For Kentucky men’s basketball fans, the dream of Billy Donovan just won’t die
Some 24 hours after Billy Donovan announced Tuesday that he was stepping down as head coach of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, I searched the words “Kentucky” and “Billy Donovan” on Google.
There were eight news stories from the past day linking Billy D. with UK men’s basketball.
On the “Eye on College Basketball” podcast, Gary Parrish of CBS Sports acknowledged that the Kentucky head coaching job is not vacant. “It feels dirty ... but, if I were Kentucky and could hire Billy Donovan this afternoon, yes, I would do it,” Parrish said.
On FOX Sports Radio’s “The Herd,” Colin Cowherd predicted Donovan would remain in the NBA. “Or keep your eye on Kentucky basketball,” Cowherd said.
Writing at CBSsports.com, Matt Norlander listed UK as a potential landing spot for Donovan — if the coach sits out the 2026-27 season. Of incumbent Kentucky coach Mark Pope, Norlander writes “A looming change at athletic director only adds uncertainty to his long-term standing in Lexington.”
Speculation over the hypothetical pairing of Donovan and Kentucky has now lived, with varying degrees of intensity, for more than three decades.
It has also now long seemed like a dream that is never going to be fulfilled.
If the 60-year-old Donovan, who began his coaching career as a Kentucky assistant working for Rick Pitino from 1989-94, really wanted to be the head man at UK, he could have long ago made that happen.
Donovan could have had the Kentucky job in 2007, when Tubby Smith exited for Minnesota. Coming off his second-straight NCAA championship at Florida, Donovan did not come to UK.
In 2009, after the ill-fated Billy Gillispie coaching tenure at Kentucky imploded, Donovan could have become top Cat. Again, Donovan demurred.
Only two years ago, after John Calipari went into exile in Arkansas, Donovan likely could have had the UK job just by signaling interest in the position. Instead, with the Bulls headed to a berth in the NBA’s first-stage play-in tournament, Donovan did not send Kentucky that signal.
Outside of news conferences, I don’t recall ever having a personal interaction with Billy Donovan. So I claim no insight to his thoughts or feelings.
But one’s actions tell your story. If Donovan wanted to be the Kentucky coach, he would have been. That he hasn’t taken that route with so many chances to do so seems telling.
After his stellar run as Florida head coach — 467-186 from 1996 to 2015; four Final Four trips (2000, 2006, 2007, 2014); and the 2006 and 2007 NCAA championships — it is understandable why college fan bases yearn for Donovan.
Yet from the time he left Gainesville to become head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015, Donovan has seemed all about the NBA.
After going 243-157 with OKC, Donovan spent the past six years leading a Bulls organization mired in mediocrity. Donovan finished his Chicago run 226-256, but his coaching star did not dim much because he was consistently given rosters of middling talent with which to work.
As for a return to college hoops, just this offseason Donovan was widely seen to be a leading contender for the North Carolina coaching vacancy.
This time, the Bulls were not in contention for the NBA playoffs or the play-in tournament. No reasonable person would have objected if Donovan had chosen to leave Chicago for the North Carolina job.
Instead, he again declined to speak with UNC until the NBA season had ended. In the era of the transfer portal and all but no restrictions on player movement, no college with a coaching vacancy can afford to wait that long on a coach — no matter how credentialed they might be.
To me, Donovan’s stance in relation to the North Carolina vacancy was consistent with a coach who does not want to work in college basketball.
This past winter was challenging for Donovan on a personal level. Over a two-week period in February, Donovan’s father and mother-in-law each died and the coach’s mom had to have a leg amputated.
As a result, Donovan taking a year off from coaching would be eminently understandable.
It is also possible Donovan’s professional future could depend on how the Orlando Magic fare in the 2026 NBA playoffs.
Incumbent Magic coach Jamahl Mosley is thought to be on the hot seat. Orlando did not play up to expectations in 2025-26 and suffered a late-season collapse that dropped the Magic from safely in the playoffs into the play-in tournament.
To Mosley’s credit, Orlando made it through the play-in tourney and scored a stunning upset win at top-seed Detroit in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Still, failing a deep playoff run, it’s not clear how secure Mosley’s hold on his job is.
Should the Magic job open, a talented, young roster that includes Paolo Banchero, 23; Franz Wagner, 24; Jalen Suggs, 24; Wendell Carter Jr., 27; and Desmond Bane, 27, would make it a coveted coaching position.
Donovan — who, remember, was briefly the Orlando head coach in 2007 before changing his mind and returning to Florida — would make ample sense for the Magic.
As for the refuses-to-die idea of Billy D. coaching UK, that has long seemed a day that is never going to come.
