By: Dan

After some anxious moments for the Gator Nation, Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan quickly dispelled the rumors that the UF head coach and former Kentucky assistant would be returning to Lexington.
There were a number of rumors surrounding Donovan and a possible flirtation with the school that gave Donovan his coaching start. First, there were several questions regarding a mystery plane that left from the Gainesville Regional Airport to an airport just outside Lexington earlier in the week. Then there was the speculation surrounding former UF assistant Anthony Grant. People wondered if Grant held off on taking the Alabama job because he was waiting to see if the position at UF would open up. Grant was on a plane headed to Florida when Donovan decided to ditch the Magic and return to Gainesville in 2007. On a side note, Grant took the Alabama job Friday, after taking Virginia Commonwealth to two NCAA tournaments in a three-year span.

When you stop and think about it, there was really no question that Billy Donovan would remain at Florida. Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley came on a sports talk radio show in Jacksonville and said that the Donovan-to-Kentucky talk was nothing more than speculation, but even if there were legitimate conversations between Billy and the Wildcats, Donovan would be prudent to turn down any offer from Kentucky.

As was evidenced when he reneged on the Orlando deal, Donovan’s family is very important in any career decision he would make. His wife Christine really likes Gainesville, and Donovan was responsible for the creation of St. Francis, Gainesville’s only Catholic high school. His son, Billy Donovan Jr., is a junior at St. Francis, and it’s not likely that he would pull his son out of school before his senior year.

From a basketball perspective, going to Kentucky doesn’t make sense for two reasons. First, the pressure would be unbelievable. Kentucky fans are somewhat like Notre Dame football fans in that the expectations outweigh the reality. The Wildcats haven’t been relevant on a national scale for a number of years, but the Big Blue Nation still expects Kentucky to be among the national elite. Secondly, Billy Gillispie, who Kentucky fired after two years at the helm Friday, left the program in worse shape than when he took over two years ago. Kentucky fans can say what they want about former coach Tubby Smith, but the Wildcats never missed the NCAA tournament under him. Kentucky barely made the Big Dance in Gillispie’s first year and had to settle for an NIT berth in year two.

Deep down, I think Donovan is determined to make Florida a perennial powerhouse. Just about all of the basketball success the Gators have had is because of Donovan, and I think that the dean of SEC basketball is determined to build his own legacy at the school he helped build, rather than being just another name at a program rich with history.