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The Florida Gators are behind in their search to replace Billy Donovan as head basketball coach. Athletic Director Jeremy Foley admitted as much on Monday during a farewell press conference for Donovan.
In the college basketball world, it’s already next season. And at this point, Florida doesn’t have a head coach. The likelihood of them luring a quality coach away from his current program at this point lessens by the day, a fact that everyone except Foley seems to understand.
Foley will go after Archie Miller of Dayton, Chris Mack of the Xavier Musketeers and Richard Pitino of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Those are the names most associated with this search.
But if Foley wants to keep continuity within the Gators’ program, his next head coach is sitting right under his nose. In fact, it’s the coach that Donovan recommended as he left for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Foley should hire former Donovan assistant John Pelphrey, who has spent most of the last 25 years in the SEC. Pelphrey was one of the “Unforgettables” with the Kentucky Wildcats from 1989-1992. He was a Florida assistant coach from 1996-2002, was head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks from 2007-2011 before returning to Florida as an assistant for the last four seasons.
Pelphrey has a career record of 149-126 as a head coach, including a 69-59 mark at Arkansas. He has been to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach and has three 20-win seasons under his belt. Pelphrey knows the Florida program, he knows the league and he would be the perfect transitional hire for Foley.
Florida needs a coach sooner rather than later, and Pelphrey would be the coach who would provide the smoothest transition after Donovan’s departure.
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.
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