I know there was a lot of talk about what his next coaching move would be.
Billy Donovan joins the Spurs staff as an assistant
- Thread starter TarHeelInCharlotte
- Start date
I 100% believe he’s waiting to see what happens with Pope. There may be a couple others too that he has his eye on, but I think he wants that job.
Smart move. Billy will be in the witness protection program this season, and he’ll see how it plays out in Lexington.
I still don’t get the obsession with 61 year old Billy The Kid who hasn’t coached in college for a decade.
He’s a two time national champion. You can say it was twenty years ago and that’s true, but it isn’t like there’s a lot of two-time national champions available to choose from.
This move means easy income on a low-stakes job compared to a HC while he waits to see if Pope gets fired.
Billy hated the old college basketball
Billy hates the new college basketball
Billy hates the new college basketball
When he's 75, some of our fans will still want him and believe he's secretly wanted to be our coach for decades lol.
And what would be the harm in it?
Personally, I’d rather have Oats than Billy D but if someone is wanting Donovan that makes perfect sense to me. His agent is most likely the person who leaked that he’s wanting to return to CBB next year, so it isn’t completely unfounded.
Let's get a group together and go BEG Billy to coach the Cats...
Me neither. But then this board has ALWAYS had an irrational obsession with Donovan. I don’t get it.
I think he wants to stay in the NBA. College is too stressful and way different than when he was around last.
Same. It's embarrassing
He doesn't want to come back, at least he hasn't since leaving for the NBA and he'll still be there next season with a young team who's already seen success. It'll end up being one of the greatest "what ifs" in college basketball and UK lore but at some point this fanbase has got to move on.
I moved on twenty years ago. It’s no skin off my back. I’m just saying people wanting Billy is completely justified and harms no one. Some people talk like it’s the most preposterous thing when it isn’t even mildly silly or farfetched.
I’ll take Pope first and hope he crushes it. If he doesn’t, give me Oats.
Pope is going nowhere soon & with the way he’s building the roster & staff , his future at Ky will be secure for years to come. Throw in 5 in 5 ,a couple of deep runs in March and Pope will be around for this board to criticize another decade .
He's NEVER coming here. And Pope isn't getting fired. After being turned down twice (I think), you simply move on.
Part of the Pitino tree and everyone still romanticizes the good old days.
Donovan ain't doing college again.
There's a first time for everything. And this is the first time I've ever agreed with you.
UK isn't a high stakes job anymore. You see what Popes getting away with. Just another school with the best fanbase at this point.
A deep march run for pope is a sweet 16.
Not sure I agree with this, fully.
My concern with UK is that with NIL in the portal era, it has less clout in the new landscape. Back in the day it was seen as a prestige school, a brand that could attract top recruits/coaches. Now I do get the feeling many see it as a burnout job because of a delusional fanbase/stress. It just ran a HOF coach out of town.
Programs today are more about the coach than the brand. I'll be curious to see what Michigan turns into now.
As we've seen, top programs can go bad FAST if they make a coaching mistake. Their brand can then flatline pretty quickly. Nova just went through it. They were probably a top 5 brand between 2016 and 2022 and then kerplunk. Barely talked about. Having your coach right through this weird NIL era (2024-now) was really important.
I'm going to be really curious to how UNC does.
He's banked plenty. I doubt the $$ is going to be his primary decision maker.But he doesn't hate the millions of, they pay him to do it.
He gets a year extension for every Sweet 16 - so yes that’s the standard.
My goodness, some on here will be waiting for Donovan to come when he is in a nursing home. HE ISN'T COMING folks, how many times does he have to turn us down for people to figure that out!!!
Did you watch the NBA Finals?
I think the Spurs coach put his job in jeopardy by playing Fox too much and blowing their chance at a Championship.
I won't be the least bit surprised if Donovan is the next Spurs head coach.
We’ll see but that is way more optimistic than the data suggests to date. Last year was the worst roi in the history of NIL for any team, any coach. Think about that.
Guys give it up
25ish years ago, 13/14 year old me at the Georgia dome looked Billy Donovan directly in his eyes as he was leaving the court. I told him he sucked. It broke his heart. You could just see it tear him up. We never had a chance since then.
25ish years ago, 13/14 year old me at the Georgia dome looked Billy Donovan directly in his eyes as he was leaving the court. I told him he sucked. It broke his heart. You could just see it tear him up. We never had a chance since then.
Billy is still a top 5-10 basketball coach in the country.
Interesting move to go be an assistant after being the HC for 30ish years now.
Might be taking a breather to asses NBA and CBB landscape. Spurs have a championship caliber squad and good management.
If he is planning a CBB comeback wouldn’t surprise me if he pulled a Pitino and got back to his Northeast old big east religious school roots.
Interesting move to go be an assistant after being the HC for 30ish years now.
Might be taking a breather to asses NBA and CBB landscape. Spurs have a championship caliber squad and good management.
If he is planning a CBB comeback wouldn’t surprise me if he pulled a Pitino and got back to his Northeast old big east religious school roots.
Huh?!Let's get a group together and go BEG Billy to coach the Cats...
It’s not an obsession with me. Look, Billy’s first two seasons at Florida weren’t nearly as good as Pope’s first two seasons here. However, Billy did win two National Championships, and damn near three at Florida, so, he’s intriguing because of his success. Of course, his last season at Florida he had a losing record.
I always respect your opinion, but I have to disagree this time. With the way it is now with teams basically buying players, this would be perfect for Billy to jump back in the College pool.
He brings instant credibility. He‘s actually never won big as an NBA coach, so why not try and win a 3rd title as a College coach? What’s the worst that could happen? He collects another 20+ million dollars and retires. Even if he’s not overly successful back in the college ranks, no one will really care. No one will ever remember him for being an NBA coach.
Last edited:
Who cares? Donovan is never going to be the head coach at UK. Never.