http://www.wlextv.com/global/story.asp?s=6283438

I smell BS, but if it is true I can't believe it would get leaked headed into the FF with another team.

3/27/2007 6:53:28 AM

Hell no. Florida wouldn't let him leave and WHY would he go there. The expectations are way to high.

3/27/2007 7:03:53 AM

Florida definitely wouldn't let him go

3/27/2007 7:12:44 AM

Billy D is about to get a large raise.

3/27/2007 7:43:32 AM

If I am Florida, I am doing anything and everything to try and keep him

3/27/2007 7:43:46 AM

There is no way he's leaving Florida. He is going to Calapari this shit into a huge raise.

3/27/2007 8:10:54 AM

but it's his dream job....

3/27/2007 8:16:33 AM

I refuse to believe that he's been talking to Kentucky while preparing his team for the Final Four.

I call B.S. I doubt UK would even contact him until after his season is over.

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 8:37 AM. Reason : Well, it says his agent.... but still. Hard time believing he's focusing on anything but the FF]

3/27/2007 8:28:22 AM

he won't leave, he's sitting much better in florida

3/27/2007 8:33:04 AM

That story has been taking down. They were basically siting a message board rumor.

However, not matter what ESPN says, Florida CAN NOT match the money that Kentucky will offer. Kentucky will offer up to 4 or 5 million a year, and a school like Florida simply can not pay the basketball coach more than the football coach.

There is another rumor that has Billy D to the Miami Heat.

3/27/2007 8:41:04 AM

Quote :

"Florida definitely wouldn't let him go"

i read somewhere (probably bs) that billy d has in his contract that he can leave florida should the uk job become available. just something to think about.

3/27/2007 8:46:54 AM

Andy Katz mentioned this on Mike/Mike this morning. Seems like there is a much higher possibility that he ends up going to coach the Miami Heat after this season.

3/27/2007 8:47:15 AM

i know it was just coach speak but Billy D was on PTI yesterday and said he couldnt predict the future but he just loved being at UF

he said he didnt want to think about anything right now but the FF and after that ... who knows but Billy also said it wouldnt be fair to talk about anything w/ his kids but UF / UCLA

3/27/2007 9:32:45 AM

I COULDNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT KENTUCKY

3/27/2007 9:34:32 AM

Coach speak

3/27/2007 9:36:58 AM

UF gives their coaches (in all sports) a lot of advantages:
1) Academically, one of the top 20 public universities in America
2) Great facilities (the O'Dome is probably the least modern of all the venues)
3) A state with high school sports that rival those in any other state
4) A beautiful campus and mild, sunny winters (although summer is unbearable)
5) Huge budgets for recruiting trips and daily operations
6) A very active booster club
7) 50,000+ students, who support even the minor sports well
8) Salaries on par with any college in America

In return, AD Jeremy Foley has two primary expectations of the coaches: to be competitive at the SEC and national levels, and to do under NCAA rules. That's the blueprint that has taken the Gator athletic program to be one of the nation's best, over the last 15 years.

Florida can afford to pay Donovan a mint to stay, and may well end up paying him more than Urban Meyer. If he leaves, it will be either for the challenge of coaching in the pro ranks (like Spurrier) or to be at a school where basketball and basketball recruiting are the school's two biggest sports, not for more money.

3/27/2007 9:38:34 AM

Quote :

"8) Salaries on par with any college in America "

if the 3.5 mil number is somewhat close

uf wont come close to matching that.

3/27/2007 9:41:43 AM

Quote from UF President Bernie Machen:

"I am sure Kentucky --- if that's who they want --- will make him an incredible offer. We have our own ways to make our own offer and we have the Florida fans... We want what's best for Billy and we think that's the University of Florida... We're not going to lose him to anybody."

http://florida.scout.com/2/629885.html

3/27/2007 11:13:29 AM

i'm going to leave a football school where i'm already a hero for winning a national title in basketball and i'm currently in the final four...to go to a basketball school with higher expectations where i dont already have back to back final 4s

riiiiiiiight

roy wouldnt have left kansas if he couldve ever won a fucking title there

3/27/2007 11:27:15 AM

His segment on PTI made me believe that there is more beef to the rumor than anything else. While what he said was classic coach speak, he sure as hell didn't attempt to put any rumors to sleep.

3/27/2007 11:30:00 AM

also...in 2007...going from Florida to Kentucky in basketball is far from the "step up" that it used to be

3/27/2007 11:31:08 AM

wonder how Dan Werner feels about this, hahaha.

3/27/2007 12:07:39 PM

^^i kinda disagree with you there. Florida's got a great program, no doubt.

But Kentucky... i mean, that's the shoes of Adolph Rupp. IMHO, there are only a handful of jobs in the country that every coach should cream their pants over... Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, UCLA, and Indiana.

thats purely from a basketball historian point of view though.

i'd understand why B-Don would want to stay at Florida, but i just think Kentucky is more of one for the history books.

3/27/2007 12:13:27 PM

Kentucky has what, 6 or 7 titles?

thats awesome...and i hope they get more to extend the gap between them and UNC...and they're a better program than florida without a doubt...just not AS MUCH BETTER as they were say 10 years ago

but its quite possible that Donovan will have gotten Florida its first 2 national titles come Tuesday morning

and Florida will always be a football school...aka Butch Davis' job security at UNC (a bball school)

also quality of life, weather, etc

sure theres something to be said for going to the best program you can...i just think quality of life and being a hero in florida will keep him put...all florida fans love him right now...he's already won a title there...if he went to Kentucky he'd have to start all over in a sense

3/27/2007 12:19:05 PM

HE GONE

3/27/2007 1:21:02 PM

http://www.wlextv.com/global/story.asp?s=6286074

new article referring to other as a "rumor" that pretty much everyone in here thought it was. Just a heads up for those that followed the initial outdated link.

3/27/2007 1:29:37 PM

i think he sticks around at UF

he has a tremendously promising program as it is...why start all over again at UK


not to mention the UF president has said time and again that they will match whatever $$ is on the table.


and Billy has said on PTI his focus is the FF not the job.

3/27/2007 1:31:02 PM

He would be stupid to leave UF. Plus this just in, his great grandmother is moving down to Gainesville FL...her plane has been tracked and the moving van is packed and heading down I-95 as we speak. It's a lock people!

3/27/2007 3:52:32 PM

I think he'll milk the offer for a raise at Florida

He basically built the program himself, before him they had players like Andrew DeClercq and Demetri Hill

Now they're competitive every year, winning last year etc bringing Mcd AA's like David Lee amongst others

Like TreeTwista said, there isn't that gap between Kentucky and Florida like there used to be so i think he'll stay for his own legacy that he's already achieved there

Plus, Lexington is rather lame, i've never been to Gainesville though

3/27/2007 3:59:20 PM

If I had any type of job at UF I wouldn't leave
The school is amazing
the kids are amazing
all signs point to a perfect place for anyone involved in athletics...
I'd give my left hand for a shot at being a part of the administration there

3/27/2007 3:59:45 PM

hay guyz, maybe we should track hiz plane

3/27/2007 4:01:53 PM

Quote :

"He basically built the program himself"

norm sloan is laughing at you

3/27/2007 4:01:54 PM

isn't it kind of rare for a coach to go to a big rival school IN THE SAME CONFERENCE? i'm sure its happened, but examples are escaping me. i think its much more likely, if he does leave, that its for the pros

3/27/2007 4:05:02 PM

^^who the fuck built it then? Lon Kruger?

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 4:06 PM. Reason : ^^]

3/27/2007 4:06:01 PM

well, when i was younger, they certainly weren't at the same point they have been for the last six years

so, i'd imagine that he's done far more for Florida than Sloan

I guess "built" might be the wrong word, since i don't know much about Florida before 94ish

but BD has certainly surpassed the level of which he inherited the program, IIRC

3/27/2007 4:06:58 PM

Kruger got them to the Final Four in 94

Donovan took over in 96...and 2007 is his THIRD final four

he pretty much did build the program, dunno wtf ernie is talking about

3/27/2007 4:08:27 PM

^^just go look at the history of UF basketball please

wikipedia prolly has a section

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida wow they are a pretty huge school with some good academic history, didnt realize that.

Quote :

"isn't it kind of rare for a coach to go to a big rival school IN THE SAME CONFERENCE? i'm sure its happened, but examples are escaping me. i think its much more likely, if he does leave, that its for the pros"

we just did it with TOB in football...i wouldnt say its a rival though like you are implying between us and BC...but yea...its rather rare but has happened

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 4:12 PM. Reason : f]

3/27/2007 4:09:11 PM

Quote :

"who the fuck built it then? Lon Kruger?"

christ, you are dense

sloan put them on the map

donovan made them into the power they are today

3/27/2007 4:12:17 PM

Quote :

"Sloan returned to Florida after leaving the Wolfpack, taking the Gators to three NCAA Tournaments in eight years and the school's first Southeastern Conference basketball championship in 1988-89. His reputation as "Stormin' Norman" continued as he feuded throughout his tenure in Gainesville with LSU Tigers coach Dale Brown. Sloan resigned prior to the 1989-90 season in the wake of an NCAA investigation into the Gator program, an investigation that also involved the football team. The football investigation led to the firing of coach Galen Hall and the eventual hiring of former Gator quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier. Sloan's 627 victories rank him 26th on the career list of Division I coaches. He is still the second-winningest coach in N.C. State history, trailing only Case. He is also the second-winningest coach in Florida history, trailing only current Florida coach Billy Donovan."

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 4:14 PM. Reason : f]

3/27/2007 4:14:40 PM

thank you jt3bucky

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 4:16 PM. Reason : i don't think treetwista knew sloan coached at uf, but he never really knows shit anyways]

3/27/2007 4:15:23 PM

i guess that was what i'm implying

he's made them a power, why leave?

even for Kentucky

i'm not saying it couldn't happen, or as a fan that i don't want it to, i'm just saying it seems unlikely

due to his current success

3/27/2007 4:16:06 PM

so 3 ncaa appearances in 8 years is "building" the program more than their first ever national title

k

3/27/2007 4:17:35 PM

id say that Herb rebuilt our program and that Sid has the chance to take us to national glory...it would be much the same way as it has been for Billy at UF wouldnt you agree? even though BD and Herb have more in common

3/27/2007 4:19:34 PM

i never said sloan did more than donovan

i just said it was ridiculous to suggest donovan built the program by himself

or do you still not understand what's going on here?

3/27/2007 4:19:51 PM

thats probaby why he said he "basically" built the program by himself

but you're right...everybody was big on florida basketball when sloan was on there...its not like final fours are what put programs on the map

when he took them to 3 tourneys in 8 years everybody was like "he sure is building this program to national success"

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 4:21 PM. Reason : .]

3/27/2007 4:21:04 PM

I'm thinking he will stay. Why would he leave UF, he's made UF a basketball power, the fans adore him, and his family loves it in Gainesville. Also, his parents and his wifes parents moved down to Florida to be closer to them. He'll get a huge raise and contract extension after the season ends. It's great to be a Florida Gator...

3/27/2007 4:21:34 PM

^this guy sounds like he knows Florida

which single coach would you say built Florida's basketball program?

3/27/2007 4:22:39 PM

^i was thinking along the same line

i don't know anything about NCSU basketball really, but who built our program?

would you consider it to be Valvano or Sloan since they won NCs? or someone much earlier? With the impression that Sloan did in fact build up Florida without winning a NC, i'd assume it would be Case?

I'm not trolling or anything, just curious

3/27/2007 4:22:54 PM

treetwista

you didn't even know sloan coached at florida

how can you engage yourself in a discussion of historical significance concerning a topic about which you are clueless

eat a dick

[Edited on March 27, 2007 at 4:23 PM. Reason : YEAH VALVANO BUILT OUR PROGRAM, WE WERE NOTHING BEFORE HIM]

3/27/2007 4:23:24 PM

^^i think thats a more interesting question

sloan certainly got us on the map with the undefeated season and title the next year...but case happened to put the ACC on the map...its not like sloan went to florida and created the SEC

i would probably say case built it

Quote :

"you didn't even know sloan coached at florida"

what?

3/27/2007 4:24:30 PM