Billy the Kid strikes again

In the midst of the never-ending NBA playoffs, we now have a new story to concentrate on. First it was the NBA draft, and the subsequent revitalization of the franchises in the Great Northwest, then it was Kobe's tyrade against Lakers management for seemingly refusing to get him a legitmate second option in catapulting the team back to its earlier prominence. The Cleveland LeBrons better win their series, or absolutely no one is going to watch the NBA Finals. I feel like I've seen the Pistons and Spurs play eachother in the finals over 100 times. It's getting old, and will be another reason why fewer and fewer people will continue to watch pro basketball.

Now the main story of the past couple of days has been the departure of Florida's supremely-successful head coach Billy Donovan from the college ranks to the "greener" pastures of the NBA, more specifically the Orlando Magic. Billy Donovan fleeing Gainesville for nearby Orlando. There's a reason I italicized the word "nearby" because location had to have been a huge factor in Donovan's decision to leave college. His family is settled in North Florida, and it doesn't appear that they will need to move too far, making life far easier for his young kids, and wife, Christine. This issue has personal relevance to me because I used to babysit Donovan's niece and nephews, the McVickers. (Mrs. Donovan and Mrs. McVicker are sisters). Whenever I would arrive at their stately home in Larchmont, New York, the kids rooms would be chock-full of Florida Gator paraphenalia: sweatshirts, hoops, balls, etc.

Before Billy Donovan, no one knew anything about Florida Gator basketball. I couldn't name a single coach or player from Florida before the Billy Donovan era, and now three of their starters from this past year's championship team are slated to be drafted in the top 10. That's how much Donovan has done for not only Florida Basketball, but SEC basketball in general. Only recently has the SEC stepped up as a real powerhouse basketball conference. One could argue that it is now on par with the Big East, Pac 10, ACC, Big Ten, and Big XII thanks to the efforts of Coach Donovan at Florida. Due to his success, rivaling SEC schools have been forced to concentrate their efforts far more on basketball than ever before. I'm sure the legendary Arkansas coach, Nolan Richardson, is thankful of Donovan's efforts of bringing the conference back to prominence as not solely a "football conference," but now argubaly the best all-around conference in all of college sports. Billy Donovan coached the Florida Gators for eleven seasons, and won two national champions at the school. That in itself is a truly amazing feat. For all of those who continue to criticize those college coaches for wanting to make the move to the NBA, you obviously don't understand how demanding the life of a college coach is. These guys have to recruit 24/7 for all 12 months of the year. Travelling the country to look at 17 year old kids who could be complete busts is not a particularly enjoyable task. You are on the road for the majority of the year, and it undoubtedly takes a toll on your family life. The Donovans and the McVickers both have traditionally large Irish familes, and are dedicated to them. The years of non-stop travel on these recruiting visits undoubtedly took its toll on Donovan and his family, and was undoubtedly a factor in his leaving the college ranks for the far-less time consuming vocation as NBA head coach.

Why else did Donovan leave? $. Let's be honest here. As much as many of these sportswriters love to bash these coaches for "being money-hungry egomaniacs," how many of you would pass up the chance to make $3 million more a year than you were already making? Thank you. Donovan's team graduated all five of his starters from the back-to-back championship teams this past year, so the chances of Florida being able to defend its title is slim to none. The amount of parity in college basketball these days is unbelievable, and the fact that Florida won back-to-back championships is a minor-miracle in itself. Three-peat? Not in this era. Donovan accomplished far more at Florida than most coaches could aspire to accomplish in their respective careers. Change is typically a good thing, especially when you have the support of your family and friends. I personally did not see Donovan leaving Florida anytime soon, mostly due to the fact that he turned similar dollars to coach at Kentucky. Yet, even though I was shocked and in disagreement with Donovan for jumping ship at first, I now understand why he chose the course he did, and feel that it was probably a sound decision. Orlando has a very young team...Dwight Howard would be a rising college senior right now. It's not like Donovan's inheriting the Lakers, an organization on the other side of the country, with a ton of history, pressure to win every single game, and a plethora of veteran egos. Donovan is staying close to home, inheriting a young team with a good deal of talent and an even greater amount of potential to be a top three seed in the Eastern Conference within the next 2 or 3 years. As has been expounded upon within the past few days, the majority of college coaches who have decided to move up to the NBA have failed. Pitino went to the New York and Boston, two cutthroat cities who expect perfection every game. Calipari went to New Jersey for three years, and experienced similar expectations in a big market. Mike Montgomery left Stanford, and was ultimately unsuccessful at Golden State. Even though one could compare the markets of Golden State and Orlando, those Golden State teams had far less talent than these Orlando ones; and lets be honest, Billy Donovan appears to be a better basketball coach than Mike Montgomery. Cut and dry. Billy Donovan is a great choice for this job, and unlike those aforementioned coaches who failed in their leaps from college to the NBA, I think Donovan will be quite successful, especially in the weaker Eastern Conference. With that young team, and a coach who has shown that he can create powerhouse programs, don't be surprised if Donovan can take the Magic back to its "Shaq years" and beyond. Under Billy Donovan, the Orlando Magic will no longer be an #8 seed in the Eastern Conference, they will be a talented team to be reckoned with. I predict they'll be a #3 seed within the next two seasons, that's how confident I am in that team and its new coach. Let's just hope Donovan finishes behind his and my hometown Knicks! Yeah, right. Good luck to Donovan, I wish him the type of unfettered success he achieved during his final years at the University of Florida.

--Katastrophic