It looks like basketball coach Billy Donovan is moving a few miles south from the Florida Gators in Gainsville to the Orlando Magic. I wish Donovan well. He's one of the better people in the slime-filled world of major college basketball. But the transition from the NCAA to the NBA is extremely tough. Tim Floyd, Rick Pitino, Lon Kruger, and Mike Montgomery are only a few of the top college coaches who have failed recently in the NBA.
There are lots of reasons.
Billy Donovan is a god in Gainesville but he'll be a rookie coach working with players like Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson who have already accumulated considerable NBA experience despite being in their twenties. They'll be judging Donovan a lot more than Donovan will be judging them.
Donovan won't be working with the cream of the athletic crop like he was used to working with either. At Florida, Donovan just had to figure out a way to get his assorted McDonald's All-Americans to assert their athletic superiority. Phil Jackson gets to do that with Kobe Bryant, but the Orlando Magic was mediocre even in the Eastern Conference. Donovan will have to coach them up the ladder as he's learning on the job. Ouch!
Likewise, one of Donovan's big skills is recruiting and there is no recruiting in the NBA outside recruiting free agents. And how many top level free agents are going to want to work for a rookie coach who hasn't proved himself.
Maybe Billy will do great but he might be in for a real "growth experience" as well.
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