Donovan taking big-money deal to coach Magic

[Dback Jon]

ESPN is reporting that Billy Donovan will become the new Orlando Magic coach.

Billy Donovan will be named the head coach of the Orlando Magic on Friday, several sources have told ESPN.

The announcement is scheduled to be made at 11 a.m. ET, sources told ESPN.com's Pat Forde.

Thursday, after weeks of waiting for the University of Florida to finalize his new seven-year contract, the Magic offered Donovan a big-money deal. Sources say the deal is shorter and smaller than original reports of a six-year, $36 million deal. The Associated Press said the deal is a five-year, $27.5 million contract.

good timing, because the Gators will suck next year.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

UF still is a good job, they still have the name, cash, facilities and a Top 10 recruiting class coming in. I imagine the agents of Mark Few, Tom Crean, and Gregg Marshall will be fielding phone calls in the coming days although this late in the process AD"s generally just turn it over to an assistant.

 

[Dback Jon]

it will be tough at this point to lure someone from a quality school. UF will be fine, but losing the coach and all the starters will mean some SERIOUS rebuilding.

 

[Russ Smith]

UF still is a good job, they still have the name, cash, facilities and a Top 10 recruiting class coming in. I imagine the agents of Mark Few, Tom Crean, and Gregg Marshall will be fielding phone calls in the coming days although this late in the process AD"s generally just turn it over to an assistant.

Would be interesting for few. Everytime his name comes up they talk about his love of flyfishing and the outdoors and how he loves the area near Gonzaga.

If you love flyfishing the state of Florida is awfully tempting although saltwater flyfishing is totally different than river and streams he fishes now.

Wonder what Jai Lucas and Nick Calathes think though, Lucas signed very late, and Calathes was allegedly reassured by Donovan he was staying or he was going to ask out of his LOI when the Donovan to UK rumors were swirling.

Never a good time to leave though for recruits, you always have players who will feel lied to.

 

[82CardsGrad]

ESPN is reporting that Billy Donovan will become the new Orlando Magic coach.



good timing, because the Gators will suck next year.

I could swear I read somewhere that UF has had the top-rated recruiting class the last several years... I really don't believe they will "suck"...

 

[Dback Jon]

I could swear I read somewhere that UF has had the top-rated recruiting class the last several years... I really don't believe they will "suck"...

If Donovan leaves, they will be hard pressed to make the tourney.

 

[82CardsGrad]

If Donovan leaves, they will be hard pressed to make the tourney.

Oh... that's different... I thought you were claiming that Donovan's leaving now is good timing for him sicne the Gators were going to suck this year.
But yes, if he leaves, even with their immense talent, making the tourney will be difficult indeed - though I would not at all be surprised if they did. Supposedly they are LOADED!

 

[Ryanwb]

Tim Floyd, the sequal

 

[Southpaw]

Rick Pitino Jr. going to a bad franchise, but that is one big paycheck. Magic have a few decent young players. Maybe this will be the job Billy takes before he ends up in Miami as Riley's successor.

Donovan leaving Gators to coach Magic

By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 38 minutes ago

ORLANDO, Fla. - The
Orlando Magic are betting that Billy Donovan can build another powerhouse in Florida. The Magic hired the Gators coach on Thursday and planned to introduce him at a press conference Friday. Donovan agreed to a five-year, $27.5 million contract, an official in the NBA told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn't been finalized.

"There's going to be a lot of hamburgers, a lot of filet," departing Gators star Joakim Noah joked.

Donovan has faced speculation that he would leave the Gators since leading the school to its second straight
NCAA championship in April. He turned down an offer to coach Kentucky, whose storied program launched his career as an assistant in 1990, and was more recently linked to the
Memphis Grizzlies' vacant coaching job.

He seemed to squash those rumors after turning down the Kentucky position, proclaiming, "I love the University of Florida."

But Orlando, about 115 miles south of Gainesville, proved too strong to resist. The Magic job pays more than twice Donovan's $1.7 million annual deal with the Gators.

Both Donovan and the school had said all along they were negotiating a contract extension. Florida president Bernie Machen said Thursday the deal was basically done, just not signed.

"There's always a next," Machen said at the Southeastern Conference's annual spring meeting in Destin, Fla. "Billy Donovan has been here for 11 years, won two national championships. He's been a great ambassador for the University of Florida. We'll always love Billy Donovan, whether he's here 11 years or 21 years."

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley also emphasized there were no hard feelings.

"We certainly wish this run could have gone on forever. It's been an incredible privilege to be a part of. We're indebted to Billy Donovan," Foley said in a written statement. "We hired him 11 years ago to build Florida basketball and he did that beyond anyone's expectations. We'll miss him as a coach, but we'll always be friends and remain close to Billy and his family."

Donovan replaces Brian Hill, who was fired after two consecutive losing seasons. Hill's ouster followed the Magic's first playoff appearance in four years, which ended in the first round against Detroit.

If he's going to go, now could be the best time for Donovan. Florida lost its top seven scorers after the season, including potential top-10 NBA picks Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer.

In Orlando, Donovan inherits a team without a single first-round draft pick — or much veteran experience. Orlando is rebuilding around third-year player Dwight Howard, who made his first All-Star team this season, and counting on bigger contributions from Trevor Ariza and J.J. Redick.

The Magic have vowed to re-sign free agent Darko Milicic, who flourished despite an injury in the playoffs, but the 7-footer still has to prove his NBA value.

"Billy Donovan is a winner," general manager Otis Smith said in a statement. "We feel he is the right person to develop and maximize the talents of our players. We look forward to Billy leading us to the next level."

Besides the coach, the big question mark for Orlando is whether Grant Hill will return. The often-injured star's contract expired this season, and he could opt to retire or chase a title elsewhere. If Hill leaves, it would open up a big load of salary cap room for a skilled offensive player.

Donovan has shown he can improve even mediocre programs. At Florida, a traditionally football-oriented school, he made it to the NCAA title game three times in his 11 years. He led the Gators to nine straight 20-win seasons, nearly doubling the amount it had before his arrival. Florida won three SEC championships under Donovan after getting just one in 77 years previously. He became the winningest coach in Florida history on Dec. 20 and now has 261 victories.

With the Magic, he'll face a similar challenge. Orlando hasn't been out of the first round of the playoffs in a decade.

 

[Russ Smith]

Tim Floyd, the sequal

Magic have more talent than the Bulls did when Floyd arrived but it's scary that of the last 5 "big name" college coaches to make the jump the most successful was Mike Montgomery who bombed out with the Warriors.

 

[Southpaw]

I wonder if part of his deal is getting rid of Grant Hill.

Not exactly a nucleus of talent after Howard.

 

[Russ Smith]

I wonder if part of his deal is getting rid of Grant Hill.

Not exactly a nucleus of talent after Howard.

True, how how is their draft pick I don't recall.

Really interesting to see how sought after the Florida job is. 2 straight titles but the top 6 scorers are all gone and it's still considered a football school I wonder do they fall back out of the elite or can they get a coach to keep it going? The timing is bad there's not a lot of big name coaches out there.

UCLA fans are jokingly pushing Lavin so we can take the team that beat us the last 2 years, and have the guy who nearly buried us, bury them instead.



Don't know anything about his staff does he have any assistants worthy of a promotion?

 

[Southpaw]

They don't have a pick this year. Pistons own their pick. Darko, I guess.

 

[Russ Smith]

They don't have a pick this year. Pistons own their pick. Darko, I guess.

Ouch.

 

[Russ Smith]

Apparently Anthony Grant from VCU is one candidate to replace
Donovan.

And rumor is Jai Lucas wants out of his LOI. Can't blame him he waited to the end, signed the last day of the signing period, and then Donovan still
leaves. He'll want to go to Kentucky his 2nd choice if they let him out.

 

[Southpaw]

Well, now we know Donovan is reneging on his Magic deal.