Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan
William John Donovan, Jr.is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He previously spent 19 seasons at the University of Florida, where his Florida Gators men's basketball teams won two NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan has more wins than any other coach in the history of the Florida basketball program, and he coached the Gators to more NCAA tournament appearances,...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 May 1965
CityRockville Centre, NY
I'm very happy for John. He's done an absolutely fantastic job with his team this season. It's always difficult playing a game at this level against such a close friend.
I'm very, very thankful. The NCAA Tournament to me, what's the lottery motto? You've got to be in it to win it.
I'm very, very proud of these kids. It has been a remarkable run. There was so much uncertainty surrounding our season, but these guys have stepped up.
I'm not surprised that he's playing small forward, and I'm not surprised that he's playing well, because he's a great kid and he's always been about the team. He's always been an unselfish kid.
I'm hoping that has carried over and will continue to carry over. He just needs to let it fly. It's really that simple for that team.
I'm happy for the kids. All season they have given me everything they had.
I'm happy for Jordan. He's gotten a lot better as a basketball player, as I knew he would. He's a hard-working kid.
I'm concerned a little bit that it may go through our team. If anybody does come back positive, we'll try to start them on some antibiotics. This is the time of year, but I don't use that as an excuse. . . . We all have to deal with challenges and different things that happen throughout the course of the year.
The second half was a back-and-forth basketball game. Give Arkansas credit. They made some plays and their kids played hard and I thought it was a great college basketball game that both teams had a chance to win at times.
I want to see you get 15 rebounds just once.
It's not a high ankle sprain, which is a positive.
It's not about me, how young I am. I don't know all the stats. It's about the people you coach all the time. I get pleasure seeing the players celebrate.
It's not about just getting to the NBA with these guys. It's about making an impact. This is their decision.
As a coach, I can't put the ball in the hole for them. But what I can try to do is put them in the best position to take advantage of the talent level they have that they can make plays ... Right now, we have a bunch of guys that are unproven in that area so I'm going to try to eliminate any focus on them worrying about scoring.