The Wooing of Billy Donovan
Jun 1st 2007eCollege Basketball & NBA
The Magic finally got their man. Yesterday Billy Donovan agreed to a five year $27.5 million contract to be the team’s new coach. Donovan will be a rich man, but the cash isn’t all the Magic had to give up to pry him away from Gainesville. The team will give Donovan the authority to hire as many as 13 people for a slew of different jobs ranging from trainer to administrative assistant. They will also give Donovan a condo in Orlando so that he can keep his residence in Gainesville.
Speaking of Gainesville, the Gators are already feeling the effects of Donovan’s departure. Two weeks ago stud recruit Jai Lucas signed a letter of intent to play at Florida because Donovan told him he “wasn’t going anywhere.” Now Lucas will wait and see who the Gators hire before deciding whether or not he will honor his commitment.
As for Donovan’s future in Orlando, if I was Magic fan I would be livid. Sure, Donovan is a big name who will raise the profile of a relatively nondescript Magic team, but the track record of college coaches has been so utterly atrocious that no team can defend it’s decision to hire one. What’s makes Donovan’s hiring even worse is that his strength as a college coach is recruiting, not drawing up gameplans and making in-game tactical adjustments. I don’t know if the Magic realize it, but recruiting is not a skill that’s very useful in the NBA. Donovan’s hiring is almost like an extremely businesslike publicity stunt—kind of like signing a 46 year-old Dennis Rodman to a 10 day contract. It gets the team a lot of attention, but in the long run it does nothing to help them win.
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