William John "Billy" Donovan (born May 30, 1965 in Rockville Centre, New York, United States) is a basketball coach who has taken the University of Florida men's team to 2 NCAA Final Fours in 2000 and 2006, the 2000 national championship game, and the 2006 NCAA championship with a 73-57 win over UCLA. He is one of only six men to reach the Final Four as both a player and a head coach; he's one of only three (Dean Smith and Bob Knight being the others) to play in the Final Four and win the national championship as a coach. He and Bob Knight are the only active male coaches in this club, joined by current Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson.
In the 2005-2006 season, Donovan's young Gator squad posted the school's best-ever win streak to start a single season, reeling off 17 straight victories and reaching #2 in the nation. However, the team failed to reach the top spot as it lost its first game of the season to Tennessee. This loss was followed by a surprising season sweep at the hands of eventual 2006 National Invitational Tournament Champion South Carolina Gamecocks. However, Florida avenged those losses by ending South Carolina's surprising SEC Tournament run in the finals and thereby winning the SEC Championship. This season ended as the most successful in the history of both Donovan and Florida basketball, as the Gators defeated UCLA 73-57 in the NCAA championship game, winning the school's first NCAA title
Da revista FIBA Assist um artigo do Coach de Florida :
http://www.fiba.com/asp_includes/download.asp?file_id=478
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