Talk:Billy Donovan

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Need a better picture[edit]

The picture of Billy Donovan is grainy and looks like it was taken from an old cell phone camera. He deserves a better picture than that! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.50.150.148 (talk) 03:43, 8 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

HE'S COMING TO KENTUCKY![edit]

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/032709source_donovan_leaving_UCF —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.177.154.82 (talk) 19:45, 27 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

- That report was false. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=532069 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.177.112.192 (talk) 21:25, 27 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mistake[edit]

Donovan's father is not the 3rd all-time scoring leader at BC. He scored 1,012 points in his college career, making him the 32nd all-time scorer in BC history according to the 2006-7 media guide. See page 30 of http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/bc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/0607guide-history.pdf.


Billy Donovan did not play in the championship game as a player. As a senior at providence in 1987, Providence lost in the final four. I believe to Syracuse.

I tried to correct this mistake, but I'm not allowed as a new user. The article states that Donovan played in the championship game as a player, and this is inaccurate.

There have also been rumors that the Miami Heat are possibly interested in hiring Donovan if Pat Riley retires.--[Nick Mourn 141.150.100.44 05:22, 19 March 2007 (UTC)Big East Fan[reply]


Can someone update this section, as the wording is poor. Thanks! "On December 20, 2006, Donovan became the basketball coach in Florida history with most win, " --Frogbrother

Focus on the article, not conjecture[edit]

Hey guys, this talk page is for discussing improvement to the Billy Donovan article, it's not a kitchen talk blog. Take your ideas about Billy being "the man" or whatever else elsewhere. Please use this page to hammer out ways of enhancing the main article and leave it at that. Any further comments not pertaining to the article will be deleted.  Veracious Rey  T  C  20:42, 2 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree half the article is on rumors to Kentucky. This is Wikipedia, not Cold Pizza. Mets 22:12, 2 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

UK Rumor[edit]

As of March 28, 2007, the section on the rumors concerning Donovan's possible acceptance open UK head coach position is relevant to the topic. Depending on how events play out, it may need to be expanded, reduced or deleted. But as this article is a current event article for the time being, and this is a direct result of the rumors of him returning to Kentucky, then its removal is unmerited. SonPraises 08:08, 28 March 2007 (UTC)


I disagree. These rumors have been spread by who? Coach Donovan has not indicated any desire to coach Kentucky. These rumors were started by the Media and UK fans. I feel that until there is more than just speculation the UK rumors should be taken down. What is the next rumor? Donovan to run for President? I do not feel that publishing unwarranted rumors is a good practice for this site. It is a good way to send out false information. Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hande 123 (talk • contribs).

The statement "these rumors were started by the Media and UK fans" is an opinion and and unsubstantiated one at that. Checking a Gators message board the rumors are being discussed by Florida fans as well. Just because rumors are speculative by definition does not mean that recording that rumors are indeed circulating about Donovan taking the UK job is in any way sending out false information, especially when it is clearly stated that these are rumors and it explicitly stated that the rumors do not constitute "hard news".SonPraises 22:52, 28 March 2007 (UTC)


So go ahead and post that Billy Donovan is second in line for mayor at gainesville. What is the difference between that rumor and the UK one? NONE! Both are just opinions. I think this website should not let this nonsense in. The media is trying to divide the Gators but it won't. But, I still think this nonsense should not be posted. It opens the door for the spread of false rumors. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hande 123 (talk • contribs).

The difference between the two rumors is the former has been reported on in the press and the latter is a straw man you invented in order to prove a point. Do a news Google search of Billy Donovan and you will find the majority of the stories posted since Tubby's exit from UK have centered around whether or not he will take the UK position. Therefore it is relevant for the time being. (It also says something about the two programs that media is concerning itself with whether or not Donovan will leave for the school that has already been eliminated in the tournament rather than discussing solely the program that is poised to capture the NCAA tournament trophy. But then one program is called the "Roman Empire" [by Rick Pitino] and "mecca" [by several other sources].) SonPraises 04:47, 29 March 2007 (UTC)


Well, the bottom line is can we post what UF's President said? He said we are not losing Billy. UK used to be a good program, but just like Alabama football the glory days are over. Billy would never leave UF for UK. It is still pointless to have this up here as rumor. Let's see, leave a school who is going to win their second national title in a row and go to a school that has nothing anymore but its name. hmmmmm tough choicse. Plus, UK fans ran out Tuby. Why subject yourself to that? He is loved in gville and after the tourney you can take down this silly UK rumor. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hands 123 (talk • contribs).

Certainly you can post what UF's president said. In fact, it would balance out the section. Now then about UK's best days being behind it, it reminds me of a quotation by Mark Twain, "The reports of my death have been over-exaggerated." Who would have thought that Kentucky would rebound from suspension the way it did? Tubby Smith was a decent coach by most other school's standard.

When a coach is performing poorly, then he gets railed. When a coach does well--and Donovan is a coach who will do well... If he can do well in the swamp-land, how much better can he do in the "Roman Empire"... then the coach is the Emperor. At UF, the basketball program takes second place to the football program. If Donovan wants to be Emperor of the domain, he'll never achieve that Florida. He knows how the coach is adored when the coach performs--he was Pitino's assistant coach for much of the glory-run in the 90's.

I don't know if he'll go or stay. Time will tell, and it won't be long.SonPraises 01:52, 30 March 2007 (UTC)


He is def. staying UF's president won't let him go. However, I do agree with you. Florida will always be a football school. Still, there is really no reason why a second basketball championship would not balance things out at Florida. Billy will get a nice contract extension, and more and more Gators are beginning to look at basketball on the same level as football although it will take a few more titles for that to ever happen. Maybe Donovan fakes us all out and goes to the Miami Heat. Who knows?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hands 123 (talk • contribs).

So UF's prez won't let Donovan go? Is it a University or a plantation? I was under the impression that ratification of the 13th Amendment was required for Florida's re-admittance to the glorious union. Maybe he goes to the Miami heat? Maybe he stays in the swampland. Maybe he becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire. It's all up in the air.

Oh yeah, good luck in the final Four. If UK can't meet for the final dance, then any SEC-team (other than Tennessee) is second best. SonPraises 05:14, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

haha I love the use of the 13th amendment. You a lawyer? Just remember the Slaughterhouse case. The butchers were forced to do their business at a slaughterhouse. One of the lawyers brought up the 13th amendment as involuntary servitude for making the butchers use the slaughterhouse. The claim failed! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hands 123 (talk • contribs).

I am indeed an attorney. I'm not familiar with the Slaughterhouse case you have mentioned, but I don't see how it's applicable. You have alleged UF's president of holding Bill Donovan by force (he won't let him go). He himself has proclaimed that as long as Bill Donovan would coach, he'd do it for the Gators. That's a bit of an overstatement isn't it? Especially when Donovan refuses to do what other coaches have done--say they would refuse the position if offered. I don't know but if I was the arguably the best in my field and my employer was saying that I would never leave the firm, I wouldn't take it kindly. UF needs Donovan, but Donovan doesn't need Florida. He doesn't need Kentucky either.SonPraises 21:27, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Did you guys forget that talk pages are for discusion about improving the article, not a sound board for your own opinions? Good grief. No one knows what's gonna happen with Donovan, and saying he'd never leave Florida, or this and that, is all speculation and has no purpose on this talk page. Stick to what we know, and if possible use it to improve things around here. Veracious Rey T C 04:07, 31 March 2007 (UTC)


Check out the slaughterhouse case on wikipedia. Famous case. I could just tell by your arguments you were a Lawyer. You make good points. Let's just employ the reasonble person standard. The reasonble person in Billy Donovan's shoes would stay at UF. He has a top 5 recruiting class coming in next year. UK is not even in the top 25 in recruiting. I am not trying to be mean, but I really think UK glory days are behind them. Just like Alabama football. I mean UK dominated no doubt but things change. Florida just has more to offer even if basketball is second to football. Who really cares if you are winning championships? I think the reasonble person stays!

UK Section (Rationale for reinstatement)[edit]

I am reinstating the UK Rumor Section. Despite the Veracious Ray's contention that the section is "nothing but opinionated nonsense", the section is discussion whether or not speculation concerning Donovan accepting the UK coaching position is relevant to the article. While there was some drifting from that, airing those feelings helps create consensus while unilaterally declaring content to be "nothing but opinionated nonsense" does not.

The removal of the entire section, then, was an overly broad action taken without regard for the lower standard of a talk page, and ironically was based on one editor's own personal opinion, since it overlooked that a discussion of whether or not an entire section of an article is relevant to the overall article, would seem itself not just "opinionated nonsense" but hypocritical opinionated nonsense. SonPraises 03:49, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]


BLAH BLAH.....Billy D is not going to UK. I really think its time to take down that story. No shot to get him might as well hire Pat Summit after she won her 7th title.


OK now you can take this thing down. Sorry UK fans, it never was much of a rumor. It was made up by the media and UK fans. Donovan was never going anywhere. Now I think this site should clean up it's article and take down that UK speculation. It's pointless now (always was).

Agreed, it should come down now, anything outside of "Donovan was offered the job at UK but declined" is not really relevant. But it was media speculation, not fan, some fans were just guilty of getting excited over what the media told them, but you cant blame them for that...

And the section has been summarized to two sentences, and tacked on the end of his the coaching career section. But while it was still subject to considerable media coverage, it was relevent to the article as a whole. SonPraises 02:50, 6 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actually it is not a rumor. KY's athletic director contacted him today about the job, however, he made the decision to stay at Florida. There was nothing made up about that. Go to www.lex18.com to see what I am talking about.

Donovan Having Second Thoughts?[edit]

Late Sunday, June 3, reports state that Billy Donovan has changed his mind, and no longer wants to coach the Orlando Magic, and instead wants return to University of Florida.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2892334

Reported by ESPN's Andy Katz:

Apparently, in Billy Donovan's world, the grass isn't greener in the NBA. According to sources, Donovan -- who on Thursday signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract with Orlando -- has approached the Magic about getting out of the deal and returning to the University of Florida, where he coached the Gators to the last two national championships. The decision, according to the sources, rests with the Magic.

--CoastersNSich 04:09, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Donovan's job status[edit]

Until Donovan is released from his contract with Orlando, he is the coach of the Magic. After that, Donovan will need to agree to terms to rejoin the University of Florida. In all likelihood, he will be released from his contract with the Magic; however, it is not appropriate to call him the "possible head coach" of the Gators. I have edited this to reflect he is the former Gators coach. One may wish to list him as Magic coach until it's official he's been released from his contract, but I won't be the one to take that step.

I changed him to just a BBall coach for now since he has officially been released from his contract as reported on ESPN and AP. [1] He is not officially back with the Gators as of this second, however. Since it is a 99.9999999% certainty he will be reintroduced as the coach tomorrow, I don't know if it matters or not if someone lists him as the current Gator coach. --WTStoffs 02:21, 7 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Should he get a Utah Jazz head coach succession box? jareha (comments) 13:09, 7 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Donovan coached the Magic[edit]

As he signed a contract to coach the magic, he is considered a head coach. You do not have to coach a game to be considered a coach if you signed the contract. He then reached an agreement with the Magic to be released from its terms. He was still the coach. Stop deleting the references to him coaching the magic. Ferrett3 02:25, 8 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Gregg Marshall was not College of Charleston's coach, and Dana Altman was not the University of Arkansas' coach. They are not part of the respective coaching histories with those groups, and Billy Donovan will not be considered part of the Orlando Magic's coaching history. To keep in line with the precedent set in other articles, I'm removing the references. --fuzzy510 21:07, 12 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not quite sure. History is going to show that these people were in fact head coaches of their respective teams, albeit with an asterisk. Gregg Marshall did indeed hold the title of coach for his team, Dana Altman did in fact hold the title of coach for his team, and Billy Donovan did in fact hold the title of "head coach" for the Orlando Magic. There is no disputing this. While the media guides and what not might try to spin a certain agenda, as they have been known to do in the past (claiming national championships, wins, and/or certain records), independent source can verify that these people were in fact coaches for their respective teams for a period of time. They may have never coached a game for the teams, but they still held the position of coach. Pepsidrinka 21:37, 12 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In which case, as the precedent has been, it should certainly be mentioned in the article - I'm not making a case for outright removal of any information. That's what the articles are for. It should not, however, be mentioned in the infoboxes and whatnot, since those only list the coaches who have actually held the office. In the case of Billy Donovan, he hadn't even cleaned out his office or given up his keys at Florida - he was still the coach there. That would, as I interpret it, make it incorrect to end his term at Florida, since he didn't end his term at Florida. At that point, you make adding an entry for a job that he didn't truly perform and that the Magic doesn't recognize him as holding an overly confusing process. --fuzzy510 21:44, 12 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I concur with Fuzzy. There's no need to clutter up templates and infoboxes with superfluous data. That said, the information is germane and should be included in the article text. Вasil | talk 23:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
But the thing is, he did end his term at Florida. There was no coach for the University of Florida men's basketball team for those 4 or 5 days. And also, he was the coach of the Orlando Magic for those 4 or 5 days. But to claim that because he didn't clean out of his office or that he still had his keys, that doesn't change anything - he was still the coach of the Magic. Your coach by the title your given, not by the actions you perform. For example, many people say that Dick Cheney runs the country, but that doesn't change the fact that George Bush is the president. Regardless if someone coached or not, if their title was coach, then that is what should be said. I see what your saying about not wanting to clutter up the infoboxes, while I disagree, if that is what the consensus holds, then that is fine. Pepsidrinka 11:48, 13 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with fuzzy510, too. Donovan did not coach the Magic. —Bender235 16:45, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Broken Link[edit]

  1. 18 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.161.129 (talk) 20:56, 2 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Notable players coached"?[edit]

This section entirely fails WP:OR. No criteria is used for the basis of these players being called out separately from the myriad other notable basketball alums at Florida. I'm going to remove it unless (1) a description for inclusion criteria is added in that subsection, or (2) someone beats me to it and removes it themselves. Jrcla2 (talk) 01:05, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The criteria is obviously players coached by Donovan who were NBA draft picks. The only exception is Udonis Haslem, who wasn't drafted but who became a long-time starter for the Miami Heat and was a vital part of their 2006 championship team. There's no need to delete anything. Zeng8r (talk) 01:16, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry but "obviously" isn't good enough. Read WP:OR. See also {{famous}}. Jrcla2 (talk) 01:24, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Their draft positions are clearly listed - how much more obvious does it need to be? And what other former Florida (or Marshall) players would you include among the "myriad" to choose from? As a loooong-time Gator fan, I'd say that list is pretty comprehensive. Zeng8r (talk) 01:31, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Easy solution: let's add two or three sentences of text that describe why these players are listed. The players are notable on their own (otherwise they would not have Wikipedia articles), they had very successful college careers under Billy Donovan, and they have all had successful NBA careers. Sources for each player can include their NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com profiles, and the inro text can be supported by material from the online PDF version of the 2011-12 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Media Guide. Why are we arguing about his? Jrcla has a point, and demands text and sources. Let's give him both. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 01:36, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Blessed are the peacemakers, for one of them just made himself more wikiwork to do. :) Zeng8r (talk) 01:41, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Image[edit]

I'm wondering if there is much more recent pic of him, since the one that is here is blurry and pretty much outdated? Like, it was taken in 2006, surely the pixels might be better in 2013/2014 photo. --Mishae (talk) 17:22, 6 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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"Coach Donovan" listed at Redirects for discussion[edit]

The redirect Coach Donovan has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2023 August 9 § Coach Donovan until a consensus is reached. Hey man im josh (talk) 01:11, 9 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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