Donovan a Wildcat?

One of the main storylines of this past Final-Four weekend was talk about Billy Donovan becoming Kentucky’s new head coach. Is this really going to happen? No, of course not the media is just lacking stories at this time of year. So I am here to silence the talk of Pat Forde’s article on Donovan going to Kentucky and show you why this will not happen. First, changing jobs from one team to another in the same conference has rarely been done. Why would Donovan want to leave his great surroundings at Florida to go to Kentucky and become a so called “traitor” in the conference?
In 1996 Donovan took over a struggling Florida program that nobody thought could win consistently. He has taken Florida from a losing team to the national finals in 2000, Florida’s first NCAA Championship last year and, maybe another one this year if they can beat Ohio State tonight all with a huge target on their back this year. Donovan has put Florida basketball on map with a school that is typically known for football excellence. When the media asked Donovan about the idea of going to Kentucky he said, "I love the University of Florida," Donovan said. "I love my experiences. I love everything about it. I love coaching my team. I love my administration. It's been great. I mean, I'm very, very happy here right now." With that it seems very unlikely Donovan will go to Kentucky. Though after Kentucky’s exit from the tournament Tubby Smith said that he expected to be back next year and we all know what happened after that.
Donovan has two years left on a deal that pays him $1.7 million annually at Florida. At seasons end ESPN.com reported that Kentucky is prepared to offer Donovan at least $2.8 million a season. Even with this and Kentucky’s new facilities Donovan will not go to Kentucky. Why? Florida is prepared to make an offer similar to Kentucky and there has even been talk of naming the court after him. If that does not do it (which I think will) Donovan will go to the pros as will most of Florida’s stating line-up will next year, for the money (if that is what is most important to him). Even with football overshadowing Florida basketball Donovan said, "I love Florida. My family is very happy here. I hope I can stay here as long as they'd like to have me.” With that no matter the outcome of tonight’s game Donovan will most likely remain a Gator or be headed off to the league.