Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan
William John Donovan, Jr.is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He previously spent 19 seasons at the University of Florida, where his Florida Gators men's basketball teams won two NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2007. Donovan has more wins than any other coach in the history of the Florida basketball program, and he coached the Gators to more NCAA tournament appearances,...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth30 May 1965
CityRockville Centre, NY
It's teams like George Mason that give so many people hope in their lives, just seeing what great things can be accomplished.
Fifteen years ago, there would have been no way a team like George Mason could go to a Final Four. It just goes to show ... how many good players are out there.
It just goes to show you how many good coaches there are out there, how many good players there are out there. On any given night anybody can beat anybody. George Mason certainly has proven that in this NCAA Tournament over the last two weeks.
I think what George Mason has done this NCAA tournament has been a milestone and a breakthrough in college basketball. There's been so many programs that have been close. ... I just think in my opinion right now, when you talk about the word 'mid-major' or you talk about the word 'major,' there's no more of that to me. I think those days are over with.
That takes a kid with unbelievable character. It takes a kid who cares about the team, a kid who wants to win.
Corey was a definite spark for us at the start of the second half. He made a couple baskets to get us going and he did some good things defensively.
You're playing a game right now, living each moment. Play each moment. They peaked and probably played well because of the setbacks we had in February that helped us grow.
That's generally a recipe for disaster, but because we defended the 3-point line that gave us an opportunity.
It's hard to win a road game when it's 42-20 at the free throw line. It really disrupted our flow and made us stagnant in our offense.
I went off pretty good at halftime. It's hard if you're not making shots to get off to a good start. We could have very, very easily have been up 15 or 20 in the first half.
I think the one thing that should be talked about more is our guys' will and passion to win. They've really stayed focused on winning. ... We really didn't get a lot of breaks. We had to grind it out and find a way to win.
The second half was a back-and-forth basketball game. Give Arkansas credit. They made some plays and their kids played hard and I thought it was a great college basketball game that both teams had a chance to win at times.
He was teaching us that sometimes less is more. Less of myself was more that day.
He is the whole key to their team. When he gets his 18 to 19 points, everything else seems to fall into place.