Billy Donovan

William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head basketball coach at the University of Florida from 1996 to 2015, and led his Florida Gator teams to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007, as well as an NCAA championship appearance in 2000. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2025. Donovan was born and raised in Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York, where he played basketball at St. Agnes Cathedral High School. He was the starting point guard for Rick Pitino's Providence College squad and led the Friars to the 1987 Final Four. As such, he is one of only four men (Dean Smith, Joe B. Hall and Bobby Knight being the others) to appear in the NCAA Final Four as a player and win the NCAA national championship as a coach. After college, Donovan spent the 1987–88 and 1988–89 basketball seasons split between the developmental Continental Basketball Association and the NBA's New York Knicks, who were led by his former college coach, Rick Pitino. Donovan ended his professional basketball career in 1989 and briefly worked as a Wall Street stock broker before following Pitino to his new job at the University of Kentucky. Donovan served as an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball from 1989 to 1993, working his way from an unpaid graduate assistant to top assistant coach and lead recruiter under Pitino. He accepted his first head coaching position at Marshall University in 1994 and led the Thundering Herd to a 35–20 record over two seasons. Donovan was hired to revive Florida's basketball program i

Providence College
After graduating from high school, Donovan accepted an athletic scholarship to Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. The Providence Friars played a slow tempo game under head coach Joe Mullaney and did not utilize many substitutions, so Donovan averaged less than five minutes of playing time and three points per game during his first two seasons on the team.
Mullaney retired in 1985 and was replaced by New York Knicks assistant Rick Pitino. Pitino scheduled introductory meetings with the players, during which Donovan informed him that he wanted to transfer to Fairfield or Northeastern, both smaller schools where he might get more playing time. However, when Pitino called the coaches of those two schools on his player's behalf, neither was interested in allocating a scholarship to an inexperienced player with little obvious potential. So Pitino advised Donovan to stay at Providence and get in much better physical shape so he could compete for a roster spot the following season.
Donovan followed Pitino's advice and was named the Friars's starting point guard during his junior year. He flourished in Pitino's system, which emphasized the new three-point shot on offense and an aggressive full-court press defense. Donovan averaged 15.1 points per game as a junior, when he was nicknamed "Billy the Kid" by Providence fans after the 19th-century outlaw. During his senior year, he averaged over 20 points and 7 assists per game and led the sixth-seeded Friars to the 1987 Final Four, while earning Southeast Regional Most Valuable Player honors. Donovan was also named to the 1987 All-Big East first team, the 1987 Big East All-Tournament team, and was an honorable mention All-American. Pitino would later say, "I've never in my life had anyone work as hard to improve as (Donovan)."

Professional career
Donovan was drafted by the Utah Jazz in the third round (68th overall) of the 1987 NBA draft, but was waived before the regular season began. He signed with the Wyoming Wildcatters of the Continental Basketball Association, hoping for another chance to play in the NBA. Pitino left Providence after the team's Final Four run and returned to New York as the head coach of the New York Knicks. In December 1987, Donovan was reunited with his college coach when the Knicks signed him to a one-year contract. He served as a reserve guard for the remainder of the 1987–88 season and averaged 2.4 points and 2.0 assists over 44 games.
The Knicks waived Donovan in March 1988. He did not make an NBA roster during the 1988–89 preseason, so he returned to the CBA, averaging 10.1 points per game with the Rapid City Thrillers.

Before coaching
Donovan had not received another NBA offer by the end of 1988 and came to the conclusion that he did not have a long-term future as a professional basketball player. He left the CBA in January 1989 and took a job with a Wall Street investment banking firm. Donovan was "miserable" during his brief stint as a stock broker, and he especially hated the required cold-call stock sales. After just a few weeks at the firm, he called Pitino to seek advice about becoming a basketball coach. Donovan had not been a vocal leader as a player, and Pitino doubted if he had the necessary communication skills required for coaching, so he suggested that Donovan give the financial sector more of a chance before rushing to change careers.
Donovan called Pitino again in April 1989 to reaffirm his interest in coaching basketball. At the time, Pitino was in the process of leaving the Knicks to become the head coach at the University of Kentucky, and he agreed to bring along Donovan as a graduate assistant to see if he had a future in coaching.

Collegiate coaching career

Kentucky assistant (1989–94)
Pitino was tasked with rebuilding a Kentucky basketball program which had been devastated by sanctions levied by the NCAA due to earlier rules violations. The Wildcats quickly returned to national pro