If a Fired Billy Donovan Returns to College Basketball, Where Could He Land? (Minn)

per Doughty:

Three and a half years after he left Florida, Billy Donovan has the best odds to be the next NBA head coach fired.

Donovan flirted with NBA opportunities during his 19-year, 467-win run with the Gators before taking the Oklahoma City job in 2015. After a 55-win first season that included a conference finals appearance, Donovan has averaged 47.5 wins and enters Tuesday's game against the Clippers with a 1-4 record.

If Donovan is fired and he does return to college basketball, where could he land? Let's engage in some reckless speculation.

MINNESOTA
Richard Pitino's five-year run in Minneapolis has included off-the-court issues, waves of injuries, one of the best single-season turnarounds in Division-I history and, potentially, the hot seat after last year's talented team crawled to 15 wins and an 11th-place finish in the Big Ten.

With new facilities in a talent-rich metro, this is a more attractive job than the NIT banners suggest. Like the west coast, Donovan didn't spend much time in the midwest, but it'd be a home-run hire for a program that can't get out its own way for most of the last 20 years.

Maybe the Timberwolves and Gophers will have a bidding war for Donovan.

https://herosports.com/college-basketball/billy-donovan-fired-ucla-minnesota-ahah

Go Gophers!!

BleedGopher said:

...after last year's talented team crawled to 15 wins and an 11th-place finish in the Big Ten.

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So effing lazy. And getting pretty damn tired about reading it.

A team starting BK and Hurt alongside a hobbled 'Pree and Mason+Murphy for roughly the last 50% of their schedule is not a "talented" team.

Beyond doubtful Donovan would land with the Gophers for myriad reasons, one of which is his close ties to the Pitino family. No way he would appear to be stabbing Richard in the back to his old man.

Unregistered User said:

So effing lazy. And getting pretty damn tired about reading it.

A team starting BK and Hurt alongside a hobbled 'Pree and Mason+Murphy for roughly the last 50% of their schedule is not a "talented" team.

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Absolutely. Ridiculous.

ltf said:

Absolutely. Ridiculous.

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Correct! And since Pitino isn't going anywhere, do they think he will be an assistant?

alchemy2u said:

Correct! And since Pitino isn't going anywhere, do they think he will be an assistant?

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I think the chances are similar to Richard's dad joining them to form a trio.