Looking Back: Billy Donovan's milestone timeline
Sunday, March 1, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- His first basketball victory came nearly 21 years ago in his head-coaching debut at Marshall. Billy Donovan's 500th came Saturday night with a 66-49 defeat of Tennessee before an adoring crowd at the O'Connell Center.
I wasn't at that first one back in Huntington, W.Va., more than two decades ago, but I was in the old Gator Room the day Jeremy Foley introduced Donovan, then 29 and with just two Southern Conference seasons under his belt, as the University of Florida's next coach. And eight months later I had a front-row seat for his first game -- and win -- on the Gators' sidelines.
Here's my story -- plucked from the Internet -- from that 80-63 defeat of Central Florida on Nov. 22, 1996. Below that snapshots of Donovan wins 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500.
UCF Turns Over Opener To Florida
The Gators Pressured The Knights Into Giving Up The Ball 37 Times And Cruised To An 80-63 Victory.
November 23, 1996
By Chris Harry
of The Orlando Sentinel Staff
GAINESVILLE — It rained turnovers at the O'Connell Center on Friday night, and the University of Central Florida Golden Knights were drenched in the storm.
The Florida Gators ushered in the frenetic Billy Donovan era by forcing a school-record 37 turnovers in waxing the mistake-prone Knights, 80-63, in front of an O-Dome season-opening crowd of 7,549.
Senior guard Greg Williams scored 20 points, freshman swingman Kenyan Weaks pitched in 18 and senior walk-on forward Joel Reinhart, from Cocoa Beach, nearly tripled his career-point total with 14.
Donovan made good in his debut on his promise to implement the same aggressive, full-court system that he learned as an assistant under Kentucky coach Rick Pitino. When the final horn sounded, UF had set a school record with 24 steals, including six each from Reinhart and sophomore forward Greg Stolt.
''I thought our press was the big factor in the game,'' said Donovan, whose team won despite 20 turnovers and 40 percent shooting. ''That was encouraging and positive.''
Added Williams: ''Speaking from the times we've played against Kentucky, you can get nervous (playing the press).
This year, I guess some teams are going to have to worry about us a little bit.''
The Gators (1-0) trailed, 15-13, four minutes into the game, when a post-up move by UF center Damen Maddox tied the score and tipped off an 8-minute, 24-2 scoring spree that blew open the game.
The Knights (0-1) had no answers for Florida's full-court pressure or the shooting eye of Weaks, who poured in 15 points during the run and helped the Gators open a 37-17 cushion.
''Their system goes on good runs,'' said Knights coach Kirk Speraw, a former Gators assistant. ''When attacking them, you try not to make those runs happen.''
Couldn't do it.
''We'd prepared for their press all week. We just didn't get after it like they did,'' said senior guard Harry Kennedy, who led UCF with 20 points and hit 4 of 8 shots from 3-point range. ''But I'm proud that we didn't give up in the first half. We fought back.''
The Knights whittled the margin to 13 by halftime, and with a 10-3 run midway through the second half, cut the lead to eight, 60-52, and had the ball. However, a traveling call on freshman Cory Perry led to a 3-pointer by Williams, and it wasn't long before UF by 8 became UF by 15.
All told, four Gators finished in double figures, including Reinhart's 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 assists.
And now, here's a timeline (with game details) of Billy D's milestone other victories:
The 1st
March 26, 1994
Huntington, W.Va.
Marshall 112, Bluefield College 67
At 28, Donovan was youngest Division I head coach in the country and his first game came against a Division III school 160 to the southeast of Huntington -- and about the same distance relative to talent. The debut of “Billyball” wowed the Henderson Center home crowd by throttling the outmanned Rams for 61 first-half points. “There's a tendency when you get a lead like that for the second half to be showtime -- just making spectacular plays,” Donovan said that night. “But I thought, for the most part, we played unselfishly, made the extra pass and executed.” The Thundering Herd got 29 points from Doug Schieppe, who hit seven 3-pointers, and 21 points from Shawn Moore. The Herd attempted 33 shots from 3-point range, forced 36 turnovers and tallied 20 steals.
The 100th
Feb. 2, 2000
Columbia, S.C.
Florida 86, South Carolina 82
Sixteen months earlier, Gamecocks coach Eddie Fogler publicly questioned Donovan's recruiting tactics (and ethics) at SEC Media Days in Birmingham. The fallout was a firestorm of back-and-forth between the two schools, with Foley and Donovan on the defensive, and the league reprimanding both sides. Fogler's insinuations turned out to be just that and Donovan exacted revenge the best way possible by pummeling the Gamecocks on the court. Win No. 100 was UF's third straight over South Carolina and came courtesy of 22 points from guard Kenyan Weaks and 20 points from guard Teddy Dupay, the two of whom combined to bang nine of 14 shots from long distance. All five of Dupay's 3-pointers gave UF leads after the Gators had fallen behind, not that Dupay knew. “I almost never look at the score during a game,” he said. Mike Miller (right) had nine points, eight rebounds and six assists. “The one thing you can say about Teddy and Kenyan and most shooters is, you make one or two early, you kind of get your rhythm going,” Donovan said. “Very rarely do you see people go from start to finish with that type of range.”
The 200th
Feb. 25, 2004
Gainesville, Fla.
Florida 69, South Carolina 58 
Down by three inside of four minutes to go, the Gators (20-10, 9-7) scored the game's final 14 points to run away from the Gamecocks and remain in contention for an NCAA Tournament berth and give Donovan his second three-digit milestone. More than 2 1/2 months after being ranked No. 1 in the nation -- and a week after forward Christian Drejer quit the team in midseason to sign a pro contract in Spain -- Florida was fighting for its postseason life and just trying to get to 10 wins in SEC play late in the season. "We've all got to participate in our own survival a little bit," Donovan said. "You've got to go grab the rope when you're out of the boat. That's not to say we're back in the boat yet." As was often the case during that the three-year run from 2003-05, the trio of guard Anthony Roberson (right), forward Matt Walsh and center David Lee did the heavy lifting. Roberson had 24 points and seven assists, Walsh 15 points and five rebounds, Lee 12 points and five rebounds.
The 300th
Nov. 17, 2007
Gainesville, Fla.
Florida 88, Rutgers 63
Four games into defending those back-to-back national championships with virtually an entirely different cast, the Gators got double-doubles from forwards Marreese Speights (left) and Dan Werner to help Donovan become “Mr. 300” and win a 23rd straight home game. Speights had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Werner was good for 10 and 10. All five UF starters finished in double figures, with point guard Jai Lucas carding 15 points to go with five assists as the Gators improved to 4-0. "I feel very fortunate and blessed to be here at Florida, and still be able to be here," Donovan said. "When you look at those things, it's not really me and really I mean that. It doesn't happen without the University of Florida, without the administration and certainly without the players who played here. I really was fortunate to coach some really great kids."
The 400th
Nov. 28, 2011
Orlando
Florida 96, Stetson 70 
Donovan surged past Kansas coach Bill Self to become the youngest active coach to hit 400 wins, accomplishing the feat at 46 years. Self hit the mark two years earlier at the age of 48. “It's hard to believe,” Donovan said. “It's certainly a reflection that time is moving on.” Freshman guard Bradley Beal had the second double-double of his career, scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, blocking three shots and dishing three assists in a neutral-site game at Amway Center. Guard Erving Walker threw in 21 points and forward Will Yeguete (right) had his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds plus four steals. First-year Stetson coach Casey Alexander may have had the best line of the night. “Coming from a guy who's won three, well, 400 seems as far away as you can get,” he said. “But he should be congratulated for his longevity, the way he's done it and having these kinds of teams year after year after year.”
The 500th
Feb. 28, 2015
Gainesville, Fla.
Florida 66, Tennessee 49
Donovan, at 49, became the second-youngest coach -- behind only Bob Knight (48) -- in Division I history to reach the 500-victory milestone. At the end of what is looming as the program's first losing season in 17 years, the Gators put together their best wire-to-wire effort, in shooting nearly 70 percent in the first half, including 7-for-11 from 3-point range, to open an 18-point lead. Junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith returned from a three-game suspension for violation of team rules to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds. As the game ended, the Rowdy Reptile section of the O'Dome serenaded their future Hall-of-Fame coach with chants of "BIL-LY D! BIL-LY D! BIL-LY D!" Afterward, Donovan was both appreciative and humbled. "You're only as good as the people around," he said. "I've been blessed."
