Billy Donovan took us to unprecedented and practically unimaginable heights. The man has done more for UF basketball than every other person ever involved in the program combined. He did everything we hired him to do and a whole lot more. He deserves an ETERNAL lovefest from Gators. Yeah, we're all feeling a little stung today, but we'll get over it. The program will be fine. Even with no head coach at the moment, the program is light years ahead of where it was when Billy came to town.

I don't resent anything he has done, even during the past week. I think he was somewhat coy and very cautious with his words, but under the circumstances, he had no choice. If he had come out and said, "Hey, I'm considering leaving to take the Magic job" all hell would have broken loose. He never ruled it out, and he probably never actually lied about it. The "haven't spoken with them" was probably true, even if his agent had been speaking with them for weeks.

Last football season, even those most "hurt" by Spurrier's departure and subsequent move to a division rival (or at least most of these folks) were able to put aside their resentment long enough to honor the man's accomplishments as a Gator. The reception for Spurrier during the 100 years event and the Ring of Honor celebration was nothing short of a lovefest--and it was well deserved. Even after feeling jilted twice by the man--once when he left and once when he took the USC job, we were able to rise above it and be glad he was a Gator.

Donovan has simply moved on. He hasn't disparaged, disrespected, or damaged the University of Florida or its basketball program in any way. He got a job offer that he found more attractive than staying on with his current job and he took it. He did what he felt was right for him and his family. There's not a damn thing wrong with that. He doesn't need to be grilled about "how things went down"--he needs to be congratulated on and thanked for a wonderful 11 years as the head coach of the Florida Gators and wished well as the new head coach of the Orlando Magic.