Donovan bans Gators from gym

Posted: Wednesday March 19, 2008 06:20AM ET

It seems as if it wasn't too long ago that Florida basketball Coach Billy Donovan was trying to keep players in Gators uniforms -- Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, etc. Now he's banning players from wearing Florida duds after his team failed to make the NCAA tournament. "In some respects, the confetti is still falling around them," Donovan told reporters, referring to the Gators' consecutive NCAA titles. While the Gators' NCAA tournament winning streak will remain alive at 12 games, settling for an NIT (Not Ideal Tournament) bid wasn't pleasant. So Donovan has not allowed his players to wear Florida gear and banished them from the team's $11.8-million practice facility. "We don't deserve to be in the penthouse," guard Jai Lucas told the Florida Times-Union. "We haven't done anything to be in the penthouse." Nor will you this season. The NIT elevator reaches only the 66th floor, not the penthouse.

Los Angeles Times

Billy Donovan , AP

Billy Donovan , AP

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What a crybaby....Boo Hoo, I didn't get into the NCAAs....maybe if you and your players spent more time in the facility you just told them thay can't go into, you would be dancing too....cry me a freakin river.......

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Andy by the way, good job in making them batter for next year. Obviously a place to work on their game isn't important. It got them pretty far this year.

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*better....damn this keyboard

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Now that is a mature response! ( sarcasm ). What about his failure to get them to play at a high level? Maybe he should be banned from his offices and moved to the basement by the boilers for a while by the AD. That will make him coach better next year..

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I think Donovan needs to wake up and realize he may NEVER win another NC. And that making the tourney is not a given every year. This is essentially a new team compared to those that won the NCs. He needs to come back to earth and take a deep breath.

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I watched the Gators play several times during the season....and there was a definite difference in the team's attitude from last year. Donovan is a good recruiter....I think the Gators will be back in the tourney in the next couple of years.

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Couldn't agree more GoPSULions. These fools act like they are entitled to be in the Dance every year now, and that winning the games it takes to get there is just a formality. Arrogant turds.

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It's called rebuilding! Your talent level dropped considerably after losing those top players to the NBA! Florida is not a perennial basketball-rich tradition school. You've enjoyed success in the past couple years enjoy that and start the process over again. It's hard getting that many NBA caliber players on one team on an annual basis. See you in say 2 or 3 years Billy, the school moniker is UOF, not UNC!

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Given the success that Donovan has created at UF, I don't think any of us are in a position to criticize his coaching and training methods. Well, I know I'm not. How many of you have taken a basketball team to two consecutive NCAA titles? OK, you can criticize Donovan if you like, Coach Wooden.

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Gators will be back. Buzz off, haters...

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Not critical RamblinGator or hating Greco-Roman, just being realistic to what is actually happening with that program! No one is saying Donovan did some "dumbing-down" overnight, but his talent did drop off drastically that's fact not hate!

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Now that is a mature response! ( sarcasm ). What about his failure to get them to play at a high level? Maybe he should be banned from his offices and moved to the basement by the boilers for a while by the AD. That will make him coach better next year..

50yearfan | 03/19/08,

I believe you have my stapler.

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I agree with Clintin. When his teams were winning, Eddie Munster took all of the credit. Now that they're not doing as well (they did have a good season by the way for such a young team), he's blaming the players. What an egotistical zealot. Ban yourself from the campus for not being able to motivate your team. He'd better be careful or these fine group of young guys will turn on him and the program will lose recruits. Get a grip Eddie.

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Hey nolesdabomb, show me and quote where he took the credit from them winning the last 2 years? as soon as they won the 2nd one, he was the first to credit the players and telling them they have to be considered one of the best "teams" ever. i know you are an ignorant and misinformed seminole, but to say they are going to lose recruits is just ridiculous. Jim Rome, stewart Mandel, and other "analysts" and sports reporters are raving about this move. It's called coaching off the court. there are so many haters on the gators that it is sickening...

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I guess Eddie must have done the right thing because Jim Rome and Stewart Mandel(whoever he is) said so. I've heard just as many "talking heads" say that Donovan should take responsibility for not motivating his young players and he should also realize that he lost his ENTIRE STARTING FIVE to the NBA. Like I said,get a grip Eddie.

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Ohhhh EXCELLENT MOVE Eddie Munster......seeing as your playing in the hallowed NIT

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Jaggedice20:

Are you insinuating that Jim Rome knows anything about sports? Once you get past his stupid **** schtik he offers precisely NOTHING about sports.

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Jim Rome = Dennis Miller five years ago.

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Billy Donovan is doing exactly what any good coach would do. He is punishing his team for complacent behavior, both off and on the court. Florida wasn't expected to start the season the way they did (20-3 right)? They had everyone's hopes up despite an extremely easy nonconference schedule and a visibly weakened SEC. But they blew it. Other than Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas, no one on that team played like they had any appreciation for the history made by their predecessors and the rewards they won for future UF players. Multi-million dollar facilities, massage therapists, adoring fans and the love of thousands of UF alumni.

They walked into fame and didn't return our investment made in history. That being said, I expect this tactic to go over very well with his team. I expect some players to defect, but the ones who remain are more likely to work together through "adversity" (if you can even call taking away facilities from spoiled brats such a thing) and gel by the time they hit the court next season.

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Way to toss those players under the bus (i hate that term!) coach. What about you? What was your role this season?

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