Donovan close to new deal that would keep him on Gators' bench through 2015-16 season
Thursday, October 13, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Scott Carter
Gators men's basketball coach Billy Donovan is close to finalizing a new contract that would run through the 2015-16 season. Donovan said he and Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley have agreed on the primary details.
“I would think it would happen soon,'' Donovan said Wednesday during UF's basketball media day. “I'm ready to go. In terms of us [being] on the same page of where we are, I think it's just a matter of me signing and getting it done.”
The news went over well with the Gators.
“I'm happy about that,'' sophomore guard Scottie Wilbekin said. “I would love to keep playing for him. I don't want him to leave. I feel like he connects with us and I get what he is trying to say.''
Sophomore forward Will Yeguete said Donovan was the main reason he came to UF.
“It's definitely good news,'' Yeguete said. “You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you have to think about where you've got to go or if you have to transfer or not. Knowing he is going to be here for a long time is good. I think it's really good for us and other people [future players] looking to get into school.”
Donovan currently makes $3.5 million annually and the teams of the new deal won't be announced until the contract is signed. The 2015-16 season would be Donovan's 20th at UF.
"I think in this day and age in coaching it's very, very rare to be staying at a job starting my 16th year and still have the same athletic director in place,'' Donovan said. “[What has] made this job and this opportunity to be here so special is my relationship with him."
Donovan is coming off perhaps one of his better seasons as a coach, leading a team that had its ups and downs early in the season to the SEC regular-season title and Elite Eight. In 15 seasons at UF, Donovan is 360-147, including leading the Gators to back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007.
