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Donovan to Kentucky Speculation [Distraction?] Swirling ...

By Nestor

It looks like Donovan will have more than a basketball game on his mind this weekend in Atlanta. Just like Coach Howland was engulfed in (an evitable) speculation concerning the UCLA job opening, during Pitt's run to Sweet-16 four years ago, the same situation may be developing around Billy Donovan at Gainsville.

As some of you may know by now Donovan to Kentucky speculation is heating up all over the internets both in the traditional media and also in the new one involving blogs, message boards, and other online community sites. Donovan could the top target in University of Kentucky's coaching search to replace Coach Tubby Smith. His connection to Kentucky is very deep going back to his days as one of the top assistants for Coach Rick Pitino at Lexington.

Now that Kentucky job is open Wildcats administration/fans are excited about making a run towards hiring the Florida coach. To make matters even more interesting Donovan is not doing much to douse the speculation. As Gator bloggers at Swamp Ball are pointing out Donovan is not giving any clear cut statements on whether or not he will be returning to Florida next season:

"That is not my place at all," Donovan said, when asked to talk about the UK situation. "The second thing is there are people there at the University of Kentucky that are hired to do a job. That's their thing. My total focus right now is on our basketball team and coaching them and that's it. And there's going to be speculation and people are going to talk about that stuff, but for me to come out and talk about something that I have no control over I think is inappropriate on my part."

Donovan, in his 11th season at UF and a former UK assistant for five years, never said he wouldn't consider the job on the podium at the postgame press conference or later in the locker room.

"I'm the head coach at the University of Florida," he said. "I love being here. I love coaching these teams. We've got an opportunity to go to the Final Four on Sunday. That's where my focus is. . . . Those are not my decisions, and I can't have any control over that.

"I think people like talking about it, but my whole thing is, if there's coaching vacancies right now, you guys need to go talk to the guys that are making the decision. What do I have do with it? I've got nothing to do with any of this stuff."
As Mark goes on to point out at Swamp Ball these comments are creating some uncertainty around the Gator basketball program:
These comments leave a lot to be discussed, because they neither sound like he is leaving the University or Florida or not.  You could take either outcomes out of this piece of text, so it really is a situation where we will have to "wait and see" -- which will either come when the Gators win the National Championship or are knocked out of the tournament over the next three possible games.

With this in mind, Kentucky fans around the web seem to be pretty confident they will be seeing Billy D roaming the Rupp Sidelines next season -- of course when you read things on message board from people who are usually "wannabe insiders," you have to take the info with a grain of salt.

I said it was a slight chance a couple of days ago when Tubby bolted out of Lexington to the Twin Cities -- I still think that the chances are small, but in my eyes the possibility may be a little bit bigger than I originally thought.
If you are interested in checking out Kentucky fans pov on this juicy plot, make sure to check out Sea of Blue.

I am not sure if this issue will distract the Florida programs. Their starters are incredibly talented. They know how to get it done. And perhaps they are not paying attention to any of these stories. However, if the UCLA beat writers in the LA media were to exercising their due diligence, they would certainly make sure to explore this particular story line, when they get their first opportunities to talk to Donovan. Since Donovan balked at the opportunity to quiet down these speculations, the media (at least the reporters who haven't had the opportunity to seek clarifications) should continue to pursue this story line. We are looking at you Brian (D) and Rob (K). Just saying.

UPDATE: More Donovan to UK specuation at Sea of Blue. Rumor mill around Billy is really heating up now.

GO BRUINS.

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