<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>After weeks of waiting for the University of Florida to finalize his new seven-year contract, the Orlando Magic have entered Billy Donovan's world and given him another substantial offer to ponder.After leading the Gators to the last two national championships, the 42-year-old Donovan has received a six-year contract offer from the Magic worth $6 million annually, a source told ESPN.com's Pat Forde.Team officials told the Orlando Sentinel, which first reported the story on its Web site, that Donovan is expected to take the job. But as of 4 p.m. ET, multiple sources close to Billy Donovan confirmed to ESPN.com's Andy Katz that Donovan has not accepted the job yet. Sources said that Donovan was waffling with the decision and that the Magic had made the offer very hard to turn down.The sources added this job has been the toughest decision he's had to make, much more so than any early offer from Memphis and even more so than Kentucky's contract offer. The part that makes the offer potentially palatable is that it is close enough to his Gainsville home that could it make it a smooth transition. Donovan's parents, in-laws and sister all have a home in Gainsville and the sources said that if there was a job that he would seriously consider it would be this one because of the proximity to his family.Ultimately, Donovan has to make a decision, though, whether or not he wants to be an NBA coach.Now that the offer is public, multiple sources said Donovan will have to make a quicker decision. If he does accept the job, expect Florida to act quickly and possibly stay within the family with former Florida assistant Anthony Grant, who led VCU to the NCAA Tournament second round in his first season with the Rams. VCU beat Duke in the first round.Donovan's new contract at Florida -- it was presented to him on May 17 but he had yet to sign it as of May 25 -- was to pay him around $3 million in the first year. The contract then was to escalate to more than $3.75 in guaranteed income by the end of the contract in 2013-14, a person familiar with the negotiations told ESPN.comThere is precedent for a college coach turning down the NBA. Former Atlanta Hawks general manager Pete Babcock said Thursday that the Hawks thought Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was going to accept their job when they offered it a few years ago. The same thing occurred when Duke's Mike Krzyzewski turned down a lucrative offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.The 42-year-old Donovan is one of only 12 college basketball coaches to win multiple national championships. The Gators won their second straight in April after beating Ohio State.The Magic removed Brian Hill as coach on May 23 after two consecutive losing seasons and a first-round sweep in this year's playoffs.</div>http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2888555I think he should take it. He's proven all he can at the college level.
That just might be enough to pry him away....He shouldn't even need to move, and would get twice the amount of money that Florida is offering, and there really is nothing left for him to prove at the College Level. Plus, it's a team with some good pieces with Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, among others.
you know as much as i hate the gators, I do think donovan is a good coach. IMo he made a championship team out of scrubs two years in a row. SO i think he could do well in orlando, since the core of the players are still young
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2888555Looks like he's going.I think this is a great move for the Magic. They were pretty good last year and a better coach will make them that much better.Hopefully my boy JJ gets more time now.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JHair @ May 31 2007, 08:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>A good deal for both sides here. Didn't he say he wasn't planning on leaving no matter what though?</div>I thought he said he was planning on staying. I may be wrong though.Good call by Billy though. With Nelson, Reddick, Ariza, Howard, etc, etc... they should be a good team for years to come.
In Florida he has a monopoly on recruiting in-state as FSU and Miami are hardly Basketball powerhouses, and with the two National Championships he could just make the sweet 16 15 out of the next 20 years and still have a secure job. In the NBA he likely won't finish out his 6 year contract.But if he was going to leave, the time was now. So there you go.
