Billy Donovan Should Stay With Florida Basketball Instead of Jumping to NBA

Billy Donovan has had a great deal of success as the head coach of the Florida Gators. Donovan won back-to-back national championships with Florida in 2006 and 2007 and has made two other Final Four appearances during his time in Gainesville.

Donovan has won 467 games as a head coach in the SEC, which is second only to Adolph Rupp. The former head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats won 876 games during his storied career in Lexington.

But now, rumors are flying that Donovan may be in the running to coach in the NBA. More specifically, Donovan is reportedly being courted by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City’s General Manager is Sam Presti, a longtime friend of Donovan’s.

Donovan has flirted with the NBA before. After winning the second of his national championships, Donovan accepted the head coaching job with the Orlando Magic, only to resign six days later. As a part of him getting out of the contract he signed with the Magic, there was reportedly a five-year ban on Donovan coaching anywhere in the NBA.

That ban, if it actually existed, has long since expired, so Donovan is free to talk to any NBA team. But he shouldn’t.

Donovan has a great situation in Gainesville. He is the head basketball coach at a football school. Any winning he does is just icing on the cake for his athletic director, Jeremy Foley. Florida fans want to win in football. If they win in basketball, it’s just a bonus.

That means Donovan faces very little pressure in his current job. His Gators had a losing record this season and missed the postseason entirely, yet there is no one calling for his job. The pressure in the NBA will be much, much higher. And even if Donovan has a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, it won’t be easy to win each and every season.

Donovan and his family are also very involved in the Gainesville community and he has young children still in school there. Uprooting the family to move to Oklahoma could be a challenge.

All signs point to the Thunder wanting Donovan as their head coach. But he should stay where he is because he’s got a good thing going at Florida.

Tim Letcher is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.