Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Donovan: No time to talk Kentucky job

ATLANTA - Florida coach Billy Donovan hugged athletics director Jeremy Foley on Monday night on the floor at the Georgia Dome after the Gators won their second consecutive NCAA title with an 84-75 defeat of Ohio State.

"He was certainly an integral part of having a belief that Florida’s program could do this," Donovan said of Foley.

Now Foley probably will have to try to prevent SEC rival Kentucky from taking his coach. Donovan declined to address the speculation about Kentucky’s job after the game.

He said "all that stuff" will get addressed later.
"I just got off the court," he said. "Right here at the University of Florida, I’m going to enjoy it right now."

Gators inspire Oden?
Donovan said he hopes the decisions of Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer to return to defend their title as juniors will inspire other underclassmen to return if that’s what they want to do.

"If Greg Oden is out there and really in his heart he wants to go back to Ohio State, he should do what he wants to do," Donovan said.

Oden is projected as a top-two pick in the NBA draft if he decides to leave college. Donovan said he doesn’t know what the future holds for Horford, Noah or Brewer.

Tip-ins.
Florida now has two NCAA titles in basketball and two Associated Press national titles in football (1996 and 2006). The only other school with multiple wire service national championships in football and two NCAA basketball titles is Michigan State. . . .Donovan is the fourth active coach with multiple NCAA title wins, joining Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (three), Texas Tech’s Bob Knight (who won three with Indiana) and Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun (two). . . .Florida seniors Lee Humphrey and Chris Richard finished with a school-record 111 victories. - Ken Tysiac

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