Billy Donovan has not been contacted by Kentucky: 'My commitment' is in Chicago
Once news came down about John Calipari’s pending decision to leave Kentucky, some began to wonder if it could be the time for Billy Donovan to get back into the college game. The legendary Florida coach has been in the NBA since 2015, but started his coaching career in Lexington under Rick Pitino and could be the “Hail Mary hire” at UK.
Now the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Donovan addressed the rumors prior to Tuesday night’s game against the New York Knicks and said he has not heard from anyone at Kentucky. He also reaffirmed his commitment to the Bulls, who recently secured a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
“I’ll just say this. Obviously, I spent my first five years in coaching when Coach Pitino gave me a job, two kids born there. I think like at all my stops, you have very, very fond memories,” Donovan said. “I have not been contacted by anybody, I haven’t spoken to anybody. My total commitment and focus is here to this team and to this group.
“I think with what we’ve been through this year and the way we started and we’ve talked about it, I give our guys a lot of credit to our guys for hanging in there and battling through some of the things we’ve had to battle through. And I’m with them on that, and I’m committed to them with that. Again, a lot of this stuff, I think sometimes turns out to be speculation. But I have not had any contact with anybody and my commitment is here.”
Donovan’s resume speaks for itself at the collegiate level. He made spent nearly 20 years at Florida, leading the program to four Final Fours and back-to-back national championships. All told, he amassed a 467-186 record in Gainesville, and the court at the O’Connell Center bears his name.
Since jumping to the NBA, though, Donovan hasn’t found that postseason success. He took the Oklahoma City Thunder to five consecutive playoff appearances after leaving Florida, including a conference finals appearance. However, the franchise didn’t make it out of the first round in the four years that followed.
After Oklahoma City opted not to renew his contract, Donovan made his way to Chicago, where it’s been a bumpy ride. The Bulls missed the playoffs in his first season before a first-round exit in Year 2 and a Play-In Tournament loss in 2022-23. Chicago is heading back to the play-in this year against the Atlanta Hawks.
All told, Billy Donovan has a 397-317 record as an NBA head coach, including a 154-160 mark in Chicago entering Tuesday’s game.