(Donovan), Florida's top 'supermodel' should stay

Florida's top 'supermodel' should stay
Published May 20, 2007
By Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel (link to article available below)

Stop it.Just stop it.Fellow Sentinel columnist David Whitley needs to stop it.Magic beat writer and blogger extraordinaire Brian Schmitz needs to stop it.All those Magic fans on the message boards need to stop it.And if Billy Donovan has even an inkling of interest in the Orlando Magic, he needs to stop it, too.This idea being floated that Donovan would or should become the new coach of the Magic is, in a word, INSANE! Why in the name of Dean Smith would Donovan want to go from legend to layman? And why in the name of Brian Hill would he want to go from one of the most stable, smashingly successful college programs in the nation to one of the most indecisive, mundanely mediocre franchises in the NBA?This is not to say the Magic -- if they ever decide to lower Brian Hill off the flagpole (where he has been twisting in the wind for nearly three weeks now) and fire him -- shouldn't pursue the dynamic, dynastic Donovan. Of course they should. It would be the height of ineptitude if they didn't. Make Billy D. the coach of the Magic, and those Gator-crazy city and county commissioners wouldn't just build a new arena for him; they'd name it after him.That said, pursuing him is one thing. Getting him is another matter. I can pursue Heidi Klum all I want; it doesn't mean she would run away and have me arrested for stalking if I ever got close enough to ask her out. And that's what we're looking at here: Donovan is the most sought-after supermodel in the world; the Magic are a short, bald sportswriter.There was a time not long ago when I thought Donovan would jump soon to the NBA, but that was before he won two consecutive national championships at Florida. Now, Billy walks with the legends of the game. If he stays at Florida, he will become a mythical figure like Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight. If he goes to the NBA, he becomes Rick Adelman.It's like Donovan's own player, Joakim Noah, said last season when the Gators were making their run at a second national title. When asked why he and his teammates decided to stay in college, Noah replied, "How many times do you get a chance to put your name in the history books?"Donovan already has two national championships. If he wins one more, he has as many as Knight and Krzyzewski. If he wins two more, he ties Adolph Rupp and trails only John Wooden. Now ask yourself: Would you rather go down as the next John Wooden or the next John Calipari?Calipari is one of the many great college coaches who tried and failed in the NBA. That list also includes P.J. Carlesimo, Jerry Tarkanian and Rick Pitino, Donovan's mentor.A few years ago, even before Donovan won a national title, I asked Pitino about Donovan jumping to the NBA. Pitino scoffed at the notion and said, "Billy's not going to leave Florida, because I'll kill him if he does. I love Billy to death, and obviously he listens to me. The reason he won't leave and shouldn't leave is because he has nowhere to go. He can't move up. There's no place he can go that's better than Florida. He's got a great school, a great climate, people who love him, and he loves the people."Believe me, I'll make sure Billy doesn't make the same mistake I've made."Pitino left Kentucky, where he was on his way to becoming a college basketball legend, to coach the Boston Celtics. He won one national title at Kentucky and recruited the players for his successor, Tubby Smith, to win another. If he'd stayed at UK, he'd probably have three or four national titles by now. Now, after failing miserably with the Celtics, he's back on campus at Louisville, trying to get back among college basketball's elite.Pitino made nearly $50 million when he took the Celtics job, but was the money really worth his legacy? Besides, it's not like Donovan is standing underneath an I-75 overpass, holding a sign: "Will Recruit McDonald's All-Americans for Food." According to published reports, he's about to become the highest-paid coach in college basketball history. His new contract likely will be worth close to $3.5 million a year -- which is more than the Magic are paying Hill.And even if he does make more money in the NBA, so what? As Bud Fox said to Gordon Gekko in Wall Street: "How much is enough? How many yachts can you water-ski behind?"Donovan's arguably the greatest college coach -- football or basketball -- in this state's history. He has turned Florida into Duke and now enjoys built-in competitive advantages he'd never have in the NBA. He has his pick of any recruit he wants in the fourth-largest state in the country and also pulls in premier high-school players from across the nation.He is two national titles away from going down as the greatest college basketball coach of the modern era. And he's only 41. He can coach 10 more years in college and still be a relatively young coach who then can give the NBA a try if he so chooses.But why do it now?Are a few extra million dollars really worth Billy Donovan's place in history?

The actual article is available below
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-bianchi20a07may20,0,5156897.column?coll=orl-magic