Billy Donovan recruited almost all of the players on the Florida Gators' current basketball roster, so it should surprise no one that Donovan felt gratified to watch the Gators reach the Elite Eight in this year's NCAA Tournament under second-year coach Mike White.
"I was happy for those guys," Donovan said Wednesday, before his Oklahoma City Thunder faced the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.
"Obviously, the majority of those guys on the team I have a personal relationship with and coached most of those guys. To see where they started earlier on and to see where they were able to kind of finish up at the end of the year was just great. I thought Mike did a terrific job with the team and with those guys. I recruited them, but they were really, really young at that time, mostly all freshmen and sophomores, and obviously they've all grown a great deal. It was great to see them have the success that they had."
Donovan coached the Gators for 19 seasons. His teams reached the Final Four on four occasions and won the national championship in 2006 and again in 2007.
Donovan left UF in 2015 to become the Thunder's coach.
On Sunday, Florida lost to South Carolina 77-70 in the East Regional Final.
"They grew up and matured, as a lot of teams do," Donovan said of the Gators. "I was just happy for those guys, because they're really good kids."
Don't feel badly for Donovan.
His Thunder, led by MVP candidate Russell Westbrook, will qualify for the playoffs if they defeat the Magic Wednesday.
