Report: Billy Donovan was contacted by Kentucky, did not pursue opening

Kentucky basketball fans were hoping their administration would target Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, a man with one of the greatest track records in college basketball history. Shortly after the news broke on Thursday evening that UK was zeroed in on BYU’s Mark Pope as their new head basketball coach, many Wildcat fans were left disappointed, wanting to know why the school didn’t exhaust all of their options in their courtship of Donovan. There were varying reports coming out late Thursday evening about whether or not the Wildcats tried to contact Donovan.

According to Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, despite earlier reports to the contrary, Kentucky did indeed make contact with Billy Donovan. It was unclear if the contact was made directly or through his representatives this week. The former Florida Gators’ head coach decided to not pursue the UK vacancy, according to the report.

Billy Donovan has one of the strongest resumes of any coach

Striking out on Donovan has to sting for Kentucky fans. He’s got one of the best resumes of any basketball coach out there. Donovan built Florida into one of the most dominant programs in college basketball history during his time there (1996-2015). Under his guidance, the Gators won back-to-back national crowns in 2006 and 2007, cementing their right place as one of the greatest teams in college basketball history.

They also punched their tickets to the Final Four four times (2000, 2006, 2007, and 2014).

Donovan also has an extensive amount of coaching experience within the SEC. In addition to his time at Florida, he spent five years at Kentucky as an assistant (1989-1994).

Individually, he won three SEC Coach of the Year Awards with Florida (2011, 2013, and 2014). He also guided the Gators to six regular season championships (2000, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2014) and four SEC Tournament crowns (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014).

More information on BYU head coach, Mark Pope

Pope is no stranger to Kentucky fans, of course. After starting his playing career at Washington, he was on the 1996 team that won the national championship. He then became a second-round pick in the NBA Draft and played professionally for nine years, and he turned to coaching as an assistant at Georgia in 2006.

BYU is coming off a 23-11 overall record this past season, including a 10-8 mark in its first Big 12 season. All told, the Cougars have a 110-52 record since Pope took over the program in 2019.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.