Billy Donovan’s Change Of Heart
It was quite surprising for many when University of Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan accepted a deal with the Orlando Magic. Many thought that it was a bad decision since most college coaches who jump to the NBA usually don’t do well. The most recent one to do so was Mike Montgomery who coached Stanford in college then coached the Golden State Warriors for two years then got fired. The fear was that Donovan could fall into the same situation especially since he is a Rick Pitino product, another one of those college coaches to jump to the NBA way back and failed.
While I’m not saying Donovan’s decision to back away from the contract he signed with Orlando was right for the reasons above, I think it could be great for both parties for other reasons. For Donovan, he gets to continue to coach in the college he’s coached for a long time and he loves it there so much he woke up one morning feeling guilty about signing with the Magic. He loves them so much that he’s willing to sign a no competition clause that will disallow him to sign with another NBA team for 5 years. While the core of his championship team is gone, with him still there he’ll be able to attract a lot of talent and next thing you know they could be championship caliber again in no time.
While there were doubts about Donovan’s competency as an NBA Head coach had he not backed out, I think he would at least have been a more likely college to pros jumper to succeed. He’s got the patience to see his young talent develop and it seems to me that he’s a player’s coach. But for the Orlando Magic, perhaps they needed someone else. Therefore this change of heart could even be a blessing in disguise. There are other more experienced coaches out there who haven’t been hired yet. Stan Van Gundy is a popular choice and I say Rick Carlisle would be too (if he wants the job at least).
The important thing is that Donovan was able to realize that he’s happier in the University of Florida at an earlier stage. Had he regretted his decision in the middle of next season it would have been way too late and it would have caused a lot of trouble.
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