Bonus schadenfreude: Gator tastes like chicken

As someone who is firmly in the "anyone but the Gators" camp, I find it delightful that UF men's basketball coach Billy Donovan (right), fresh off back-to-back national championships, is bolting Gainesville and heading down the Turnpike to become the coach of the Orlando Magic.

I'm surprised at this, coming so soon after Donovan rejected overtures from the University of Kentucky to coach the Wildcats. I imagine all of "Gator Nation" thought they'd have Billy for a long time. Alas, it's not to be.

It's purely speculation, but I have a feeling Donovan's going to regret his decision someday. College coaches historically have a hard time successfully making the transition to the pros (see, e.g., P.J. Carlesimo, Jerry Tarkanian, and of course Donovan's own mentor Rick Pitino), and I always thought Billy was the consummate college coach in terms of recruiting ability, rapport with his players, and his credibility as a former Final Four player (under Pitino at Providence). Time will tell ... but in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy a little extra schadenfreude today. Sorry, Gators.*

---

* Not really. ;)

UPDATE (11:38 am 6/4/07): Looks like Billy might be heading back to Gainesville after all.

When I said he was going to regret his decision someday, I didn't expect "someday" to arrive so soon ...