Donovan To Receive Wooden Award's "Legends Of Coaching Award" Friday Night
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 | Men's Basketball
University of Florida Head Basketball Coach Billy Donovan will be honored with the John R. Wooden Award's “Legends of Coaching Award” Friday night at a presentation at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Donovan will be recognized, along with the men's and women's 2010 Wooden Award winners and the Wooden Award All-American teams. The “Legends of Coaching Award” was adopted by the Wooden Award Committee in 1999. The first recipient was Dean Smith of North Carolina. The award recognizes the achievement of coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden's high standards of coaching success and personal integrity.
Donovan has compiled a career record of 331-139 (.704) in 14 seasons at Florida and has recorded 12 straight 20-win seasons with 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. He led the 2006 and 2007 Gators to back-to-back NCAA titles, the first school in 15 years to do so. In 2006 the Gators won a then-school-record 33 games, including the final 11 of the season, winning the SEC and NCAA Tournament titles. The 2007 Gators immediately bested that mark, winning a school-record 35 games and another NCAA Championship.
Donovan is one of only four active coaches to have guided teams to multiple NCAA titles; the other three, Mike Krzyzweski (4), Roy Williams (2) and Jim Calhoun (2), are previous Legends of Coaching honorees. Donovan and Kentucky's Adolph Rupp are the only SEC coaches to have won multiple titles.
In a 16-year head coaching career that includes two seasons at Marshall, Donovan's overall career record stands at 366-159 (.697). Donovan played four seasons at Providence College (1983-87), where he was a two-time All-Big East selection, and spent one year with the New York Knicks (1987-88) before beginning his coaching career. He was inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame in 1999. The 44-year-old Donovan is the youngest recipient of the Wooden Award “Legends of Coaching” honor.
Legends of Coaching Honorees
2010 Billy Donovan, Florida
2009 Rick Barnes, Texas
2008 Pat Summitt, Tennessee
2007 Gene Keady, Purdue
2006 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
2005 Jim Calhoun, Connecticut
2004 Mike Montgomery, Stanford
2003 Roy Williams, Kansas
2002 Denny Crum, Louisville
2001 Lute Olson, Arizona
2000 Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
1999 Dean Smith, North Carolina
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best basketball player at an NCAA Division I university who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97) and last year's recipients, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma and returning junior, Maya Moore of Connecticut.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and the All-American players in attendance. It is hosted at The Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award weekend.
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