Good for you. Go make some money kid. Schools not for everyone and UF will be just fine. Hey Gator fans, what happened with the recruiting? Did the kids sign elsewhere?

He wasn't going to do much in the NBA anyway.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:23 AM ET  05.24 by F J J

Good for you. Go make some money kid. Schools not for everyone and UF will be just fine. Hey Gator fans, what happened with the recruiting? Did the kids sign elsewhere?

Billy D needs to get some work done on the recruiting front, thats for sure. Either that or do better at convincing kids that a degree is worth staying for.

He's not on the hot seat yet, but a pair of NIT appearances are not making folks happy. He's living on the goodwill of a pair of back-to-back NC's, but really, that will not last forever.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 10:30 AM ET  05.24 by GatorRobster

Billy D needs to get some work done on the recruiting front, thats for sure. Either that or do better at convincing kids that a degree is worth staying for.He's not on the hot seat yet, but a pair of NIT appearances are not making folks happy. He's living on the goodwill of a pair of back-to-back NC's, but really, that will not last forever.

What happened with Billy Donovan? It seemed like this guy was the hottest thing (rightfully so) after winning back-to-back titles. That wasn't an easy task, but NIT appearances with the same coach doesn't sound right. Even with the recruits he had, it's not like SEC is a basketball power conference. I think they at least should have made the tournament. Will be interesting to see if he can turn it around fast enough.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 10:30 AM ET  05.24 by GatorRobster

Billy D needs to get some work done on the recruiting front, thats for sure. Either that or do better at convincing kids that a degree is worth staying for.He's not on the hot seat yet, but a pair of NIT appearances are not making folks happy. He's living on the goodwill of a pair of back-to-back NC's, but really, that will not last forever.

The question then becomes did he recruit the players that won the NC's or were they anothers recruits and he just played them up.

This is a bad move by Nick and a big blow to Gator Nation. I think if he sticks around for his junior season the Gators would have been one of the SEC elite and been back in the Big Dance. I believe Coach Donovan thought the kid was coming back, thats why he didn't recruit any point guards until it was to late. This puts the Gators return to elite on hold for another season. this might be the last we ever hear from Nick C. VERY BAD MOVE!

A lot of people don't realize or notice the impact of assistant coaches. Assistant coaches do a majority of the recruiting when it comes to big programs. A simple look at rival.com would reveal this to you. Due to UF's success, and Coach Donovan's leadership, many of the assistant coaches have left the program for promotions and head coaching gigs with other schools. Anthony Grant (who went to VCU before becoming Alabama's coach) is one prime example. When the coaches leave these programs, its hard to replace them. This hurts recruiting.

As far as Nick is concerned, as a Gator fan I am happy for him. This gives him a chance to succeed (which is what coaches want for their players), and spread the visibility of the school globally. Also, school will always be there, chances at making the kind of money he will make at the age of 20/21 is a rare opportunity. Good luck Nick! Go Gators!

Good luck to Nick. However, I think he would have been better off with another year at UF. Too many college kids leaving early. If you aren't King James, stay in school until you are a guaranteed 1st round pick.

Billy Donovan is such an overrated Dbag. He has hoodwinked a number of ultra-gullible fans into thinking he still has what it takes.

He be very slippery playing in grease, ha!

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 10:30 AM ET  05.24 by GatorRobster

Billy D needs to get some work done on the recruiting front, thats for sure. Either that or do better at convincing kids that a degree is worth staying for.He's not on the hot seat yet, but a pair of NIT appearances are not making folks happy. He's living on the goodwill of a pair of back-to-back NC's, but really, that will not last forever.

Dude our basketball program sucked balls before Billy Donovan. He's not just riding on the goodwill of the back to back national championships. He IS our basketball program.

I'm hoping Pitino's son will help fill in our assistant coaching needs.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 10:32 PM ET  05.24 by XX

Billy Donovan is such an overrated Dbag. He has hoodwinked a number of ultra-gullible fans into thinking he still has what it takes.

Huh? Your brain is about as good as your local economy.

He has 2 National Championships. You can't "fake" those.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 10:32 PM ET  05.24 by XX

Billy Donovan is such an overrated Dbag. He has hoodwinked a number of ultra-gullible fans into thinking he still has what it takes.

Good natured ribbing is acceptable but blatant stupidity should get you banned. Go away.

QUOTE(#11):

Originally posted 11:18 AM ET  05.25 by BleedsOrangeandBlue

Dude our basketball program sucked balls before Billy Donovan. He's not just riding on the goodwill of the back to back national championships. He IS our basketball program.

With 2 NC's the guy should have the keys to the castle and be allowed to stay on as long as he wants. He should be allowed to ride those for a decade or two. How many other coaches have 2. His only mistake was doing it so fast now the expectations are ridiculous.

QUOTE(#15):

Originally posted 05:19 PM ET  05.25 by F J J

With 2 NC's the guy should have the keys to the castle and be allowed to stay on as long as he wants. He should be allowed to ride those for a decade or two. How many other coaches have 2. His only mistake was doing it so fast now the expectations are ridiculous.

He IS being allowed to ride it, but a decade or two is waaayyy too long, if he has not contended at least a couple of times along the way. Look, I am a Billy D fan, but the talent level is not what it was, and Objective is right, he has lost some key assistants to other HC jobs. Those assts got the HC gigs partly due to the respect Billy gets from his coaching abilities. Now, he'll either have to get some assts that can recruit or hit the trail himself. He recently hired Pitino's son onto his staff, maybe that'll be a good move. We'll see what happens.

What got him the 2nd NC was the ability to retain the '04s and convince them to play another round instead of bolt to the pros. Now, he has to show he can rebuild, and losing your best player as a Junior to the Greek pro league while working to rebuild makes one think he's not giving his players a good enough reason to hang around and try to keep winning championships. Billy is still a heckuva coach but he has a different set of challenges nowadays, and his ability to rise to meet those challenges remains to be seen.

QUOTE(#11):

Originally posted 11:18 AM ET  05.25 by BleedsOrangeandBlue

Dude our basketball program sucked balls before Billy Donovan. He's not just riding on the goodwill of the back to back national championships. He IS our basketball program.

You said it right. The Gators were alright and did make the Final Four once before Billy D, but he made them elite. He used to recruit high school studs but turned sour with the likes of Donnell Harvey leaving early and Mike Miller as well. He started recruiting different types of players. One thing I never understood is why so many guys transfer out of Gainesville. That my be his biggest problem.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 07:41 PM ET  05.24 by F J J

The question then becomes did he recruit the players that won the NC's or were they anothers recruits and he just played them up.

They were his recruits-- he has been at uf since '96.
I'm fairly sure I could have coached those guys to at least one nat'l championship-- that was a heck of a team.
Calathes is good, but I strongly doubt he could have been a starter on the back-to-back nat'l champion squad.

Calathes is getting bad advice. I don't think he's anything special in one of the weakest draft classes I can remember. That's bad. Going to Greece is a one-way ticket. I hope it's enough money to retire on. Otherwise his education is more important than this detour.

If the Greeks pay then you go - if he proves his mettle there, he'll be able to go to NBA someday.