- Billy Donovan’s Déjà vu (p.3)

I’m bidding bon voyage to sports after Tuesday (gotta give the women’s championship some love too.) so…

4 Players You Probably Missed

- Rodney Stuckey- Eastern Washington So. 24.6, 5.5 apg, 4.7 rpg He's a statistical résumé few Division I players can match. In 2005-06, he finished eighth in the country with 24.3 ppg, becoming the first-ever Big Sky freshman to receive Player of the Year honors and only the 36th freshman in history to lead any conference in scoring. This year, Stuckey is fifth in Division I with 24.8 ppg. He’ll probably test the NBA draft waters.

- Trey Johnson- Jackson St. Sr. 27.1 ppg, 2.6 apg, 4.6 rpg. Scored 25 in their tourney loss to Florida and more than 30 against Alabama, Georgia Tech, and Memphis.

- Morris Almond- Rice Sr. 26.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg. a 6-foot-6 senior, averaged 26.6 points a game, five points a game more than Houston's Robert McIver, who finished second in scoring. Almond, the preseason pick for conference player of the year, was also the third-leading scorer in the nation, and the league's top 3-point shooter at 45 percent. In addition to his scoring, Almond's 6.4 rebounds were fourth best in C-USA. -brilliant ballhandler who’s been compared to Dwayne Wade and great passer with the strength and athleticism to score off penetration. Shares Wade’s deficiencies from behind the arc as he shot 27% from 3pt. range this season.

- Derrick Byars- Vanderbilt Sr. 17.0 ppg, 3.4 apg, 4.9 rpg

20 Players Poised For Breakout Seasons in 07-08 Season

- Brandon Costner- NC State, Fr. 17.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg

- Tajuan Porter- Oregon, Fr. 14.6 ppg, 2 apg. The 5-6 diminutive point guard makes up for his size deficiencies with one of the quickest release jump shots in college basketball.

- Jamont Gordon- Mississippi State, So. 17.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 5.3 apg

- Bryce Taylor- Oregon, Jr. 14.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg

- Scottie Reynolds- Villanova, Jr. 14.8 ppg, 4.0 apg. Reynolds is a sharp shooting combo guard, with NBA range on his jumper including 40 points vs. UConn, 53 points combined versus Texas and Notre Dame.

- Bill Walker- Kansas State, Fr.(sorta?) 11 ppg, 5.5 rpg.

- Richard Roby- Colorado, Jr. 17.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2 apg. One of the top shooters in the college game. Prototypical 2-guard for the NBA with tremendous mechanics release on his shot and excellent athleticism.

- Stephen Curry- Davidson, Jr. 21.8 ppg, 2.8 apg, 4.6 rpg. ACC schools whiffed on a deadly shooter with unlimited range. This season he scored 700 points as a freshman, just 22 fewer than the fellow in burnt orange named Durant. That’s not including a 30 point output vs. Maryland in the NCAA tournament.

- Richard Hendrix- Alabama, So. 14.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg.

- Tasmin Mitchell- LSU, So. 14.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg

- Spencer Hawes- Washington, Fr. 14.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg

- Marcelus Kemp- Nevada, Jr. 18.5 ppg, 2.4 apg, 4.6 rpg.

- Brook Lopez & Robin Lopez- Stanford, Fr.

- Lawrence Hill- Stanford, So. 15.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg

- Darrell Arthur- Kansas, Fr. 10 ppg, 5 rpg As a high school prospect he was ranked ahead of Kevin Durant.

- Raymar Morgan- Michigan State, Fr. 11.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg

- DaJuan Summers- Georgetown, Fr. 10.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg Though he isn't yet a household name like Green, Summers is a natural scorer and has been playing very well of late. He scored 15 points against Vanderbilt and followed that up with 20 in the win over North Carolina.

- Hasheem Thabeet- UConn, Fr. 6.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.8 blks per game. (7’3, 265 lbs.)

- Mickell Gladness- Alabama A&M, Jr. 7.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 6.3 bpg. 6-11 center who recorded 16 blocks then 13 blocks in consecutive games. NBA Comparison would be Dikembe Mutombo w/ a stronger body

- Daequan Cook- Ohio State, Fr. 10.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg. Daequan Cook is an outstanding shooter and explosive scorer who has six 20-point games this season.

• A cautionary tale; The Lowered draft stock of Ronald Steele, Glen Davis, & Joakim Noah. Has anyone’s draft status ever declined so drastically in one season without injury like these guys? Durant and Oden should take the advice of Matt Leinart and go pro while the infatuation is still there.

Roy Williams 2.0: The Sequel

3/1/07

I feel like I should be espousing the virtues of a renowned philosopher or something but, is it just me or has the universe come down with the same debilitating syndrome as Hollywood executives and producers because it seems sequels and trilogies are becoming a major theme in our reality. This summer’s blockbusters will include Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Spiderman 3, and Rush Hour 3 not to mention the highly anticipated Jurassic Park 4 in 2008, but I digress... The same affliction has hit college basketball at Georgetown, which is powered by the nostalgic combination of an old school offense, John Thompson, Pat Ewing and a dominant force in the post.

Any history buff will tell you that our past is a guide to our future and without it we are lost. Following Saturday night’s anti-climactic national semifinal victories by The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Florida Gators, history had once again come full circle in 2007. In Monday’s upcoming national championship game between the Buckeyes and Gators, the Gators will be in the eerily familiar position to affirm their monopoly on major collegiate athletics and the Buckeyes will get their chance at a measure of redemption—for their football program and for an early season loss to the Gators in December.

The moment Tubby Smith decided the Minnesota Gophers would be his next destination, high profile head coaches all over the college basketball landscape began salivating at the opportunity to coach at Kentucky, yet the Wildcats nationwide search quickly dwindled down to a Swamp-wide Gator Hunt. The man they now have in their scope is 41 year old, Florida head coach, Billy Donovan though Marquette’s Tom Crean, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and dark horse Tony Bennet of Washington State are still visible in their peripherals.

Yet I ponder, in the last two weeks when Florida coach Billy Donovan wakes up in the mornings, gazes into the mirror, does he happen to spot an eerie glimpse of Roy Williams staring back at him? Now once you expunge that bloodcurdling thought from your recollection, just remember if history serves as a guide to our future, then Florida head coach, Billy Donovan is as good as gone. Since I’m writing this article on the pretense of sequels and déjà vu I’ll compare their strangely parallel predicaments.

For starters, both are brilliant head coaches who brought or returned national prominence and respectability to non-traditional basketball powerhouses only to be contacted by their legendary alma maters at the pinnacle of their success.

For those who require a quick refresher course I’ll elaborate. As the 2002 Final Four commenced, Roy Williams was in the process of preparing his Kansas Jayhawks for their second consecutive Final Four while his name began percolating in nationwide conversations as the successor to the Tar Heels much maligned, Matt Doherty. While you may know of my disdain for a majority of college head coaches by now, it should be noted I would not fault Donovan for making the transition under these circumstances (for one he is leaving at the apex of his success, to serve his alma mater unlike Saban who capitulated to the arduous demands of the NFL for a football program he had no connection with… well besides their shared love for $$$’s).

The signs appear clear and Donovan is right on schedule after delivering the prototypical half-hearted/ angry denial that has become synonymous with high profile collegiate head coaches who are their way to surreptitiously scurrying out of the backdoor.

On my visit to Gainesville 14 months ago, I was fortunate enough to meet associate head coach, Anthony Grant, who turned out to be one of the most likeable and personable people I’ve ever met. However, as I departed the Florida practice facility that afternoon, I pondered to myself, “That guy would make a great head coach here or elsewhere.” Well looks like my thought could come to fruition—sooner rather than later. I say this because as the associate head coach, Grant is the logical successor to Donovan should he choose to relocate to the Bluegrass state or… to the… But that topic is irrelevant to my point.

The motives behind their considerations are remarkably contrasting as Roy Williams split for a better opportunity to escape his stigma as the “greatest college basketball head coach to never win a title”. Williams was also forced to consider the brutal reality that he would never be able to carve out a legacy separate from KU’s basketball patriarch, and “the father of basketball coaching”, Phog Allen. Though Dean Smith will always be the face of the Tar Heels, at least the former would not be as difficult to attain with the talent at his disposal. At Kansas, Williams was able to enjoy unparalled in-state and regional recruiting success while Donovan also enjoyed the same luxury in Gainesville. The problem has been the shallow pool of talent. Since his transition to North Carolina, Williams has enjoyed nationwide dominance rivaled only by his cross-town nemesis, Coach K.

The media seems to play a major role in both coach’s predicaments as well. In both Williams and Donovan’s situations, the buzz around them should have been their second consecutive trips to the Final Four (in Florida’s case a legitimate chance to repeat). Instead the Jayhawks and the Gators were subjected to a flurry of inquiries regarding their coach’s futures at their respective schools.

However, the most probable impetus for Billy Donovan to leave for Kentucky may have to do with a force on his own campus. Donovan may secretly yearn to be the biggest deal on a campus in a state where college basketball, (or basketball in general) is an undisputed #1 and basketball recruiting runs a spirited second. However, no matter how many championships he wins, Donovan can never hope to attain that status in Gainesville. If he’s No.1 in the country Monday night, he will still be #2 in his own athletic department come Tuesday morning. While the Florida basketball program has been a dominant force, Urban the football team is a juggernaut which only expects to be just as strong next season after reeling in its second straight Top 3 recruiting class. On the other hand, the basketball program, at a distance, appears to be heading for a lull, without a standout player returning or a star studded recruiting class in sight. Which shadow looms larger though, the current Urban Meyer reign or the memory of Adolph Rupp?

On Monday night, though, Billy Donovan’s final showdown could conjure up more deja vu comparisons to Roy Williams’ last stand as Kansas head coach. While, Williams’ Jayhawks were derailed by a young Syracuse team featuring a certain freshman phenom named Carmelo Anthony. Donovan’s Gator’s hope to fend off the freshman-laden Ohio State squad featuring prominent freshman Greg Oden. Rather than the sharp shooting Gerry McNamara at point guard, Florida defenders must adjust to the Buckeye’s lightning quick distributor, Mike Conley.

The overall consensus is that while Donovan will abandon his post at the University of Florida for the holy grail of college basketball in Kentucky, much like when Roy Williams left for the marquee program, the question arises: Is Billy Donovan enough to revive a declining powerhouse? As great of a head coach as Donovan is, he is not regarded as an especially distinguished recruiter at Florida but rather a great facilitator for developing talent. Florida's Al Horford and Joakim Noah were in the top 60 as high school seniors. Neither Taurean Green nor Lee Humphrey was in the top 100. The only McDonald's All-American in the Gators' starting lineup is Corey Brewer, and according to the Florida staff, Brewer was a late addition to the McDonald's game because of his defensive ability. Unfortunately, these were also the same strengths and weaknesses which led to the fan base driving Tubby Smith out of town.

Kentucky may be the shiny object everyone wants, but Michigan which is fresh off of NCAA probation is a sleeping giant and the potential diamond in the rough. So who else wants to see Donovan shake up this predictable plot and supply the audience with an original screenplay? Imagine that—“A Coach who coached the most recent Fab 5 embarking on an unexpected journey to a school who’s greatest triumphs( two consecutive championship games) and despair(NCAA violations) were supplied by the First Fab 5 which altered the game forever. Can he utilize his expertise to restore their honor?” Maybe it’s a bit illogical but this is the movie, that sounds like a winner to me and to quote Dane Cook “I’d go see that.”. As for Billy Donovan, it’s almost Showtime!

--DJ Dunson Jr.