In the midst of his 18th season as a head coach and on the threshold of a career milestone, it takes more than winning games to keep Billy Donovan going.
If anything, the opportunity to earn his 400th win tonight in Orlando, when No. 10 Florida plays Stetson at 7, makes the 46-year-old Donovan feel older than he really is.
After former Florida guard and Marshall transfer Jason Williams visited him last week, Donovan realized most of the players from his coaching debut with the Thundering Herd during the mid-90s are now retired from the game and in their mid-30s.
“Anytime you get to those milestones they’re always special, but I think more than anything else, I reflect back on the guys that I had the chance to coach,” Donovan said.
While he can recall any of the faces among the hundreds of players he has coached, Donovan’s memory of past wins has gone fuzzy. In his 399 victories, the first doesn’t stick out.
“I have no idea,” Donovan said. “It was somewhere at Marshall, it was a long time ago. I couldn’t even tell you who we played. I don’t remember.”
It was a 112-67 victory against Bluefield State on Nov. 26, 1994.
Since then, Donovan has won two national championships and gone to three Final Fours. By reaching the pinnacle of his profession, though, he found coaching did not define his life.
“I’ve said this before, (NFL quarterback) Tom Brady made the comment after winning three Super Bowls, he said, ‘Is this all there is in life? There’s got to be more.’”
The “more” for Donovan is keeping his family close and in one place for the majority of his career. While many of his colleagues have had to transplant their wives and children to numerous coaching stops, Donovan has lived in Gainesville for all but two seasons.
Donovan also takes pride in seeing the growth and development of his players each year.
On this Florida team, he has had to work center Patric Young into a more prominent role and help heralded guard Brad Beal manage the hype and expectations of his freshman year.
Even senior Erving Walker needed extra attention after struggling through a slow start to the season, which he broke out of last Friday with 21 points and six assists coming against Jacksonville.
“He’s been getting these wins for so long, but I’d be happy for him,” Walker said. “He’s a great coach, and hopefully we get [the 400th win] for him.”
During the weekend, Donovan had to prepare sophomore Will Yeguete for his first career start after 6-foot-10 forward Erik Murphy was lost for at least the next week with a meniscus tear he suffered during practice.
“You got to really enjoy the process of dealing with these guys each and every day,” Donovan said. “Sometimes there’s victories that nobody sees that you got to really look at in terms of helping these guys get better.”
When it comes to results on the court though, Donovan’s 400th win would still pale in comparison to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and his NCAA-record 907 victories and counting during 37 years on the job.
At Donovan’s current pace of 23.2 victories per season, it would take him 21 years just to reach Krzyzewski’s initial record-breaking 903rd win.
“I’m not even halfway to that number, so to speak,” Donovan said. “So I really don’t think about that kind of stuff, I really don’t. I feel like the number makes me a feel a little bit older than I would like to.”
Contact John Boothe at jboothe@alligator.org.
UF coach Billy Donovan (left) said working with freshmen like Brad Beal (right) has been a rewarding part of the job and something that keeps him motivated after 18 years.
