Donovan, Florida to talk about contract extension
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
INDIANAPOLIS -- Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley told ESPN.com Sunday
that he will sit down with coach Billy Donovan next week and look at
restructuring his contract for the second straight year.
Foley gave Donovan a new five-year contract after last year's Sweet 16
appearance.
"I want to be proactive, not reactive," Foley said of his fourth-year coach.
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Catching a draft |
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The following are the 54 players invited to the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational draft camp, which starts Wednesday. Players who have accepted the invitation are marked by an asterisk.
Centers
Stefan Ciosici, Lafayette
Kenyon Jones, San Francisco*
Dan McClintock, Northern Arizona*
Damon Reed, St. Rose
Power forwards
Mark Ashman, Dayton*
Brian Cardinal, Purdue*
Ryan Charles, Radford*
Demetrius Cherry, UNC-Greensboro
Caswell Cyrus, St. Bonaventure*
Ryan Fletcher, Cincinnati
Marquise Gainous, TCU*
Ceedric Goodwyn, Colorado State*
Marcus Goree, West Virginia*
A.J. Granger, Michigan State*
Jacob Jaacks, Iowa
Brandon Kurtz, Tulsa*
T. J. Lux, Northern Illinois*
Mate Milisa, Long Beach State*
Sitapha Savane, Navy*
Jarrett Stephens, Penn State*
Shaun Stonerook, Ohio*
Small forwards
Damous Anderson, Florida State
Chris Cosby, Washington State*
Ron Hale, Florida State*
Nate Johnson, Louisville*
Reed Rawlings, Samford
George Reese, Ohio State
Mike Smith, Louisiana-Monroe
Isaac Spencer, Murray State*
Tony Williams, Louisville*
Shooting guards
Donnie Carr, LaSalle*
Eric Coley, Tulsa*
Richie Frahm, Gonzaga*
Nate Green, Indiana State
Justin Love, St. Louis
David Moseley, Stanford
Jason Perez, Wichita State
JaQuay Walls, Colorado*
Darnell Williams, Xavier*
Damien Woolfolk, Norfolk State*
Point guards
Anthony Blakes, Wyoming
Mark Dickel, UNLV
Rob Dye, Bradley*
Gee Gervin, Houston
Eddie Gill, Weber State
Doug Gottlieb, Oklahoma State
Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall
Michael Jordan, Penn
Michael Lewis, Indiana
Jabari Outtz, James Madison*
Rashad Phillips, Detroit*
Aubrey Reese, Murray State*
Tim Winn, St. Bonaventure*
Rayford Young, Texas Tech
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Foley said he wants Donovan to stay at Florida, in the same fashion football
coach Steve Spurrier has committed long-term to the university.
"I'm happy now," the 34-year-old Donovan said. "I'm excited about the future at Florida. The administration has been good to me and my family."
Donovan has been bandied about as the next coach at Kentucky,
whenever Tubby Smith decides to leave. But Donovan doesn't seem interested
in moving around. He wants challenges, but said he has plenty at Florida.
"We better work harder at the University of Florida the next couple
of years," Donovan said.
His work ethic has never waned -- from when he didn't play at
Providence for his first two years, to leading the Friars to the '87 Final
Four, to having to bide his time as a grunt assistant at Kentucky to going
the route of mid-major as a head coach at Marshall. He suffered through two
sub-par seasons at Florida before last year's breakthrough to the Sweet 16 and this
year's national title game.
"My mindset has always been that I had nothing figured out as a
player, so I always had to work harder," Donovan said.
The same is true as a coach, especially on the eve of a national
title appearance.
Coaching chatter
The Georgia Tech opening is creating better situations for everyone else,
which could leave the Yellow Jackets leaning on Appalachian State's Buzz
Peterson.
Now that Tulsa's Bill Self and Miami's Leonard Hamilton have committed to
staying at their respective schools, the latest name to essentially turn them down is Dayton's
Oliver Purnell. He told ESPN.com Sunday that he's negotiating a new deal
with Dayton and is looking forward to coaching players like Flyers freshman
Brooks Hall next season.
Delaware's Mike Brey said he spoke with Georgia Tech last Tuesday but hasn't
heard anything sincem and has no problem remaining where he's most
comfortable, in Newark, Del.
Peterson has told ESPN.com that he would take the job if offered.
Nebraska athletics director Bill Byrne was expected to meet with Butler
coach Barry Collier, and if the two sides can get close on the financial
agreement, a deal could be struck by the beginning of the week.
If Collier leaves, his top assistant and 1990 Butler grad Thad Matta is the
likely leading candidate.
Houston athletics director Chet Gladchuk was scheduled to meet with
Wyoming's Steve McClain and SMU's Mike Dement to replace Clyde Drexler.
Assistants George Walker and Reid Gettys will get a look only if Gladchuk
can't find an established Division I coach.
Metro State (Colo.) coach Mike Dunlap would rather stay and defend his
Division II national title than take a stab at the Colorado State job. He
turned down the Loyola Marymount opening earlier in the week.
With Dunlap out of the equation, the Rams are looking at more established, older coaches
such as Southeast Missouri's Gary Garner and former Air Force coach Reggie
Minton. Texas-San Antonio coach Tim Carter, as well as Oklahoma assistant
Ray Lopes and Kentucky assistant Shawn Finney, are also involved. Peterson
could be a possibility at Colorado State if he doesn't get the Georgia Tech job.
Loyola Marymount is expected to announce Eastern Washington coach Steve
Aggers as its coach by midweek, while the Eagles are ready to tab Ray
Giacoletti, the former North Dakota State and Wichita State assistant (for a
week), as coach after the Lions make their announcement.
American University will interview Connecticut assistant Karl Hobbs this week. The job is either set up for Hobbs or Jeff Jones, the present Rhode Island assistant and former Virginia head coach.
Hartford's choices to fill its opening are down to Massachusetts assistant Geoff Arnold, St. John's assistant Kevin Clark and Radford coach Ron Bradley.
Final Four chatter
UConn assistant Karl Hobbs confirmed that junior point guard Khalid El-Amin went home
to Minneapolis to discuss his plans. El-Amin told ESPN.com that he would
make his decision to declare for the draft or return to school on his draft
position, not off-court harassment by fans and administrators.
If that's the case, then the borderline late first-round pick would stay in school. But
that could be unlikely, based on his fatigue with his college experience.
Earvin "Magic" Johnson was scheduled to make a cameo appearance at Michigan State's
hotel for a pre-game title pep talk. Johnson led the Spartans to their only national title back in 1979.
Connecticut's Kevin Freeman suffered a chipped elbow in the NABC All-Star
game Saturday in Indianapolis. Freeman wasn't scheduled to go to the
Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational starting Wednesday, but he was slated to attend the Phoenix Desert Classic NBA draft camp next week.
A number of coaches, after leaving Indianapolis, will watch and encourage their players at the Portsmouth Invitational later this week.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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