Head Fanatic In Charge
Well, in the end I think that UK probably got the right guy.I never thought that there was any chance that Billy Donovan would jump. I was rather surprised at the amount of national MSM that thought he would jump. Then I was rather surprised at the amount of national MSM that considered his decision to stay in Gainesville to be some sort of indication of Kentucky's status decline. Did they really imagine that any other CBk job in the country could get Billy to even consider the jump?
Then I was overjoyed that the choice wasn't Rick Barnes.
And in the end, one of the world's most fanatic basketball fanbases -- I say one of, if only because there haven't been (to date anyway) any coaches murdered -- seems to have caught one of the world's most fanatic basketball coaches.
While that may be bad for the psychological treatment of those with certain predispositions, it's quite possible that it may be just as bad for the long-term outlook of the other coaches in the SEC East -- and that certainly does include Billy Donovan. While his NCAA record with Brewer, Horford, Green & Noah in uniform (listed in order of their importance and in reverse order of their capacity for annoyance) is a sterling 13-1, his record without them is a more pedestrian 9-6 -- and they will not be playing in blue and orange next year (unless they wind up in Charlotte, I guess). Also don't forget that Billy D. lost his last seven tilts against UK before those four showed up on campus, so it's entirely possible that the recent Gator-chomping has had as much to do with them as with Billy The Kid.
At the end of the day, Kentucky is the only SEC school (with the possible exception of Vanderbilt) that places basketball on a higher shelf than football. Add a coach who's even more obsessed that Billy D. to the tradition of the program, and you just might find things returning to normal in the SEC within a couple of years.
posted by dgags @ 9:40 AM
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