Basketball Notebook: Billy D, Bruce Hornsby & The Grateful Dead, etc.
Monday, February 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Men's Swimming & Diving, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators have lost five of their last six games, are a game under .500 overall and down two games in Southeastern Conference play, and over the weekend lost a second game to LSU in the same season for the first time since Shaquille O'Neal roamed the paint back in 1991.
So instead of investing a big chunk of notebook lead into the difficult state of the UF basketball program, how 'bout a Billy Donovan item that has little to do with basketball but is interesting nonetheless?
If you watched Saturday's 70-63 loss at Baton Rouge then you saw Tigers guard Keith Hornsby score 12 points. When LSU came to Gainesville last month, you may recall Hornsby hit a trio of 3-pointers on his way to 15 points in a 78-61 route.
And you may also know by now that Hornsby is the son of Bruce Hornsby (above), the Grammy Award-winning keyboardist whose multi-platinum song “The Way It Is” was one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, and who during the 1990s had stints playing keys for the The Grateful Dead.
Well, Hornsby (both the father and son) hail from Williamsburg, Va. Keith actually played on the same AAU team as UF forward Dorian Finney-Smith. In scouting and recruiting Finney-Smith, Donovan saw the young Hornsby play and knew he went to UNC-Ashville before transferring to LSU this season.
He also knew, of course, of Hornsby's father and always appreciated how the old man stayed in the background.
“It was his son's time. He just wanted to be a dad,” Donovan explained Sunday. “I admired someone as famous as him doing that.”
After young Hornsby lit up the Gators last month, Donovan put a call into his good friend, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who starred at the University of Virginia and had ties to the area known as Hampton Road. Donovan wanted Bruce Hornsby's number. Carlisle had it.
Billy D placed the call.
“I just told him I thought his kid was playing well and that I really admired the kind of dad he was trying to be,” Donovan said. “We were talking basketball, but then he mentioned how he'd heard I was a fan of The Grateful Dead.”
Then things really got interesting.
Turns out the remaining members of The Dead (plus a few fill-ins) are playing three shows at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 3-5 to commemorate the band's 50th anniversary. Hornsby will be on keyboards for those shows.
He invited Donovan to be on stage.
Up there with Bill Walton, no doubt.
Unfortunately, Donovan's 2015 summer was already booked solid with his commitment to USA Basketball. His U19 National Team will be in Greece for FIBA World Championships, schedule for June 27-July 5 in Crete, elimination and a nice private jet notwithstanding.
Bummer.
Bruce Hornsby presents The Grateful Dead at the group's induction into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Game in 1994.
MORE GRATEFUL DEAD 
Not only did Donovan thoroughly enjoy talking about his love for The Grateful Dead, but he liked telling the story of the first and only time he saw them perform live.
The year was 1989 and he was still kicking around in pro basketball. After a season with the Rapid City Thrillers of the International Basketball Association, Donovan got a call from his friend, Carlisle, with whom he'd shared a seat at the end of the New York Knicks' bench during the 1987-88 season.
Carlisle had previously played for the Boston Celtics alongside Walton. The Dead were performing at Madison Garden that night and Walton had worked his connections to get Carlisle to the show.
So Donovan, along with a friend, took a train from Washington, D.C. -- he was living there in advance of training camp with the Bullets -- and met Carlisle at the world's most famous arena. 
“How good are the tickets?” Donovan asked.
“We don't have tickets,” Carlisle said.
Instead, Carlisle explained, they were instructed to go to the loading dock, knock on one of the Garden's back doors and -- get this -- ask for “Ramrod.”
So knock, they did. When a rough-looking roadie answered, Carlisle said, “We're looking for Ramrod.” The guy obliged with a scream.
Hey Ramrod!
Soon, a bandana-wearing Dead Head showed up.
“Hey guys!” Ramrod said. “Walton has you all set up.”
Seats on the stage awaited.
Ramrod, clearly, a good guy to know.
FORMER GATOR UPDATE 
Not a game (or rarely a day) goes by without someone tweeting at me how much the miss Patric, Scottie, Casey and Will. Understandable. The appreciation for what that quartet of seniors achieved last season will only grow with time.
But some may not know -- or recall -- that there was a fifth member of that incomparable freshman class that showed up on campus in 2010.
Cody Larson, by way of Sioux City, S.D., toyed on the Florida bench for a couple years then transferred ti South Dakota State after his 2012 redshirt freshman season. Two years later, the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Larson is averaging 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Jackrabbits, who have won 17 straight and stand at 20-8 and in first place in the Summit Conference with an 11-3 record.
On Saturday, Larson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds after being honored on Senior Night for his final home game.
He missed a helluva senior run last year, but he's done just fine; and may very well finish his career in the NCAA Tournament. Congrats!
CHARTING THE GATORS -- FASTEST TO 500 IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY
Heading into Tuesday night's game at Missouri, Donovan sits on career win No. 499. If the Gators can defeat the Tigers, the UF icon will be the second-youngest coach in college basketball history to hit 500 Division I victories, behind only Bobby Knight. Check out where Billy D, with 35 wins at Marshall (1994-96) and 464 at Florida (1996-present), stacks up against the best of the best.
Coach 500th Age
Bob Knight 1989 48 (and 81 days)
Billy Donovan 2015 49 (and ??? days)
Bill Self 2013 50 (and 60 days)
Mike Krzyzewski 1998 51 (and 15 days)
Dean Smith 1983 52 (and 278 days)
Jim Boeheim 1997 53 (and 57 days)
John Calipari 2012 53 (and 339 days)
Adolph Rupp 1954 53 (and 112 days)
Rick Pitino 2007 54 (and 91 days)
Roy Williams 2005 55 (and 129 days)
John Wooden 1969 59 (and 61 days)
TWITTER PATTER
@GatorZoneChris we don't always win close games but when we do it's on dunks
— Matt Mooney (@mattmooney15) February 19, 2015
@GatorZoneChris Gators are cardiac kids or as I like to say Sanford&Son kids...last 90sec of games...I feel the big one coming...
— Don't Waste The Trip (@PhilipGaryTalks) February 19, 2015
@GatorZoneChris after @kenpomeroy article today thought for sure that last shot goes in for Vandy
— Chuck Taylor (@ChuckieTAllstar) February 19, 2015
“@GatorZoneChris: I think I see @TitusONeilWWE sitting behind #Gators bench. Retweet if true, big guy. I knew you when ....”True✊
— Titus O'Neil (@TitusONeilWWE) February 19, 2015
Scoring over 50 points without Frazier and Finney-Smith is a moral victory. #Gators
— Brett Adams (@badamsufl) February 21, 2015
Is that @GatorZoneChris contemplating another workout move down there? pic.twitter.com/Rqq507T4Nk
— Scott Carter (@GatorZoneScott) February 22, 2015
FREE THROWS
Frazier is still not close to being cleared for practice. He's not even cleared to run on the court, in fact. The team is bracking for the possibility he may not return this season. ... Junior guard Eli Carter is three points shy of 1,000 for his college career. He came to UF by way of Rutgers, where he scored 799 in two seasons. ... The Gators, as of Monday, still checked in at No. 71 in RPI, thanks mostly to a strength-of-schedule that checks in as sixth-hardest in the nation. They still have games to play against No. 37 (Texas A&M) and No. 1 (Kentucky). ... Meanwhile, UF remains the nation's "unluckiest" team, according to those KenPom.com metrics, but the Gators' rating of minus-.152 is just two-hundredths of a point behind UNC-Greensboro (minus-.150).
