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
It's a huge milestone. It's a huge thing for our state and for our fans. I'm happy to be a part of it.
It's all based on drama. Drama sells. Coaches have made money, coaches have gotten fired and players have been recognized for their achievements. I was part of Cinderella, but as much as the NCAA Tournament has propelled me and given me a lot of great moments, it's also provided a lot of hurt, pain, and suffering for me. It goes both ways.
It's a hard play. He had two people with him and he was able to get in the lane and see the basket. He probably thought he had a good shot at it.
I told you you'd finally get to one.
I told them before the game, this game was going to come down to everything we talk about being. Team work, unselfishness, sharing the ball, and being able to defend and rebound.
I told them this would be a 40-minute battle from start to finish, and if you let frustration creep in at all, you guys are going to lose the game. This is going to be an ugly game where we may not shoot well, but we have to defend and rebound.
For a while there, everybody talked about if you really want to win at the college level, you have to have two or three pros on your team. I'm not so sure that's the case any more.
For 50 or 60 years, Kentucky has dominated this league. You can't expect every year for them to do what they have done.
It's OK. He just didn't know who I was.
They were kind of baiting us into it a little bit. I thought we took the bait at times.
This has been a remarkable run to this point. There was just so much uncertainty surrounding our season with people leaving early and guys having to step up.
This has been a great place. It's hard to believe it's been almost 10 years.
They've been totally selfless and they've been all about the team and they've been all about winning.
They've been able to inspire a lot of different people... people that maybe are really, really in need.