Gary Parrish

Wooden Award Chairman Duke Llewellyn announced Wednesday that Florida's Billy Donovan will be honored with the 2010 Legends of Coaching Award. He'll be recognized at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April 2010.

Donovan is one of just four active coaches to win two national titles. The others are Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, UConn's Jim Calhoun and UNC's Roy Williams, all of whom are previous Legends of Coaching honorees. Donovan is the youngest to ever win this award. He's recorded 11 consecutive 20-win seasons.

My column on Billy Donovan didn't really touch on it too much, but it's always important to remember that in addition to losing Marreese Speights and Nick Calathes early the past two years (and Jai Lucas to a transfer), Florida is still trying to recover from losing its top six scorers following the 2006-07 season.

And it's been difficult.

Only one player with a ring is still a Gator.

That's Dan Werner.

And though the 2007-08 team was always going to be about what it was because of the simultaneous departures, how much better would the 2008-09 team have been if Speights -- a project coming out of high school -- had lasted at least until his junior year? And though the 2009-2010 team will have an obvious void in the backcourt, how good could it be with Calathes -- who never projected as an obvious two-and-done prospect -- playing beside Kenny Boynton while Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus handle things up front?

These are the frustrating questions for Donovan.

"Marreese Speights was a project big guy, and I thought without question [when I signed him] that I'd get at least three years out of him," Donovan said. "And then I don't know if anybody looked at Nick -- a guy who can't dunk, who isn't the best athlete, who isn't a prototypical NBA point guard -- and said he's going to be a first-round draft pick after two years.

"Some guys have really improved [as prospects once they got to Florida]," Donovan added. "I don't know that you're able to prepare for that."

Or for defections on staff.

That's another issue that has undoubtedly hindered Florida's climb back to the top of the SEC, the fact that Larry Shyatt is the only assistant who was around for those national titles. Donovan lost Anthony Grant (to VCU) after the first championship and replaced him with Lewis Preston, who has since moved to Penn State. Meantime, Donnie Jones left (to be the head coach at Marshall) after the second title. He was replaced by Rob Lanier. And then Preston's replacement -- Shaka Smart -- left after this past season to replace Grant at VCU, meaning Donovan has lost and replaced four assistants the past four offseasons.

It breaks down like this:

2006: Lose Anthony Grant and replace him with Lewis Preston .
2007: Lose Donnie Jones and replace him with Rob Lanier .
2008: Lose Lewis Preston and replace him with Shaka Smart .
2009: Lose Shaka Smart and replace him with Richard Pitino .

"Players are always going to come and go, but I've really lost good quality [assistants], too," Donovan said.  I've had really good quality people, and I've lost four assistant coaches in four years. The turnover on staff is tough."

Still, there's a good chance Donovan will be OK.

In fact, at least one former assistant expects him to capitalize in this role.

"Billy is a different kind of guy," Smart said. "More than anyone I've ever been around, he thrives in an underdog situation, in a back-against-the-wall situation. There's a big part of him that enjoys it. It goes all the way back to when he was a player [at Providence]; he just thrives in situations where people say, 'You're the underdog' or 'Your back is against the wall' or whatever. He's unbelievable at coming up big in those sorts of situations. And you'll see. He'll do it with this team. That's why he's the best."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Billy Donovan is staying at Florida.

A source close to Florida told CBSSports.com that Donovan will not be a candidate for any college job that is open or might open later this offseason, Kentucky included. An official statement is expected later Friday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- With Billy Donovan out of the picture , Kentucky must now turn elsewhere.

Tom Izzo?

That would be excellent.

John Calipari?

That would be tremendous.

But I'm less sure about Travis Ford, and I like Travis Ford. He was great at Oklahoma State this season; that school is lucky to have him. But the reality is that Ford has coached nine Division I seasons at three different schools and been to just two NCAA tournaments, which doesn't suggest he's guaranteed to succeed anywhere, much less somewhere like Kentucky. He might . Or he could miss the NCAA tournament three straight years like he did at UMass. It's hard to tell, and that's my point.

Mitch Barnhart should be less interested in gambling on a UK graduate -- which some are reporting is possible -- than securing a guaranteed home run like Izzo or Calipari or Jay Wright or any number of guys. Some day, Ford might be in that class. But he's not there now, and that should make Barnhart hesitant, because if he completes another questionable hire that goes bad then the next UK press conference might not be to announce a new coach in two years, but a new athletic director with a better track record of success.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Even here in FedExForum, with four of the best teams in the country gathered for Friday night's games, the question I've been asked most today doesn't involve Blake Griffin or Tyler Hansbrough, or even Ty Lawson's toe. No, the question I've been asked most -- by coaches and other media people -- is this: When is the Billy Gillispie thing going down?

Answer: Soon ... barring a major change of plans.

Multiple sources -- and by multiple, I mean like 70 -- have told CBSSports.com that Gillispie will almost certainly never coach another game at Kentucky, that it's simply a matter of making it official. The prevailing thought is that a humbled Gillispie could possibly save himself by acknowledging missteps and promising to better embrace the celebrity that goes hand-in-hand with coaching at Kentucky, but people close to Gillispie insist he's "too stubborn" for that, and that he'd take his $6 million buyout and walk away before ever greatly altering his personality.

So why the wait?

Sources have said UK would like to have a replacement lined up before it moves on Gillispie, that the ideal scenario has the school introducing its next head coach less than 48 hours after Gillispie is asked to resign.  More than likely, that means athletic director Mitch Barnhart is spending today trying to determine -- through intermediaries, of course -- if Florida's Billy Donovan will really jump, and if he won't then the next two likely candidates are Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Memphis' John Calipari, both of whom are still coaching their teams in this NCAA tournament and thus unavailable for the time being.

Here's a prediction: Kentucky will get one of those three.

Which one?

I'll let you guess, for now.

But any list that includes a fourth option is probably a list one name too long, because Barnhart will do whatever it takes to make a home run hire, well aware that he can't take a chance on a relatively young option and risk another mistake. Another mistake will cost him his job, but Donovan, Izzo or Calipari would extend it for years, no question.

Anthony Grant is in a real-life game of Deal or No Deal .

Does he take Alabama (Deal! )?

Or stall and/or pass in hopes that something better presents itself, specifically Florida (No Deal! )?

That's the dilemma facing the VCU coach, who is on the Alabama campus today with his wife, meeting school officials for at least the second time in four days. Naturally, Alabama would like to move quickly, have an answer as soon as Thursday. But there'd be nothing worse for Grant to do than take the Alabama job only to watch Kentucky fire Billy Gillispie after this season (which multiple sources believe is more likely than not). Why would this be bad for Grant? Because if Kentucky were to fire Gillispie, it appears Mitch Barnhart would make another run at Florida coach Billy Donovan, and if Donovan jumped this time -- which is more possible than you probably think, for a variety of reasons -- then Florida would suddenly be open, and Grant would almost certainly be Jeremy Foley's choice to replace Donovan considering he was set to replace Donovan two years ago when Donovan eft for the Orlando Magic, if only for a couple of days.

So that's the situation.

Can Grant hold-off Alabama long enough to see what happens at Kentucky?

If so, that's what I expect him to do.

If not, then he'll have to choose between Alabama and the possibility of Florida (or something else altogether) opening.

It's a tough call, no doubt.

But either way, Anthony Grant will soon be a very wealthy man.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- I'm in The Swamp for the LSU-Florida football showdown.

It should be wild.

But before coming over to the stadium I stopped by the Gators' basketball facility, where Billy Donovan ran about as intense of a preseason practice as you'll ever see -- complete with guys diving for loose balls with little regard for their bodies. Florida went hard for about 45 minutes, then played pick-up for a while. I'll have more on this later, probably on Monday. But one thing worth noting is that All-American candidate Nick Calathes was mostly limited to shooting because of a groin injury that continues to cause problems.

How serious is it?

"It'll be OK," Calathes said. "I'll be back by Friday."

Friday, of course, is the official start of practice for Division I schools.

But it appears the Gators -- who return four starters -- are already pretty far along in terms of focus and intensity.

Anyway, watching the workout right along with me were both of Florida's commitments from the Class of 2009 -- Erik Murphy and Deshawn Painter. The pair of forwards are in town for visits and will attend the football game. Scout.com ranks Murphy as the 39th-best senior in the nation while Painter is ranked 52nd. They are the core of what should be another stellar class for Florida, which is also considered the favorite to land in-state star Kenny Boynton, who is regarded as one of the top two shooting guards in America.

There's a poll on the college basketball page right now asking for the best coach in the SEC.

As I type, Billy Gillispie (37 percent) is leading (hello, Kentucky fans!), followed by Billy Donovan (33 percent) and Bruce Pearl (18 percent). And when I looked at the poll I was reminded of a comment Pearl made last weekend when I told him Tennessee fans were taunting Florida fans at the hotel bar (the night before the UT-Florida football game) by screaming how Pearl was 5-1 all-time against Donovan, which is amazing considering Donovan has won national titles in two of the three seasons Pearl has been in the SEC.

Anyway, Pearl downplayed that statistic.

He claimed it was kind of fluky and misleading.

And then he revealed whom he believes to be the SEC's best.

"Billy Donovan is the best," Pearl said. "He just is."

LOS ANGELES -- How much did Mario's Miracle make Bill Self?

The answer is an extra $1.39 million per year, plus seven additional years of contract security.

"It turned out pretty well," Self said Wednesday, and  I think I agree. The 45 year-old went from a man with a thee-year, $1.61 million contract (and a man who some Kansas fans believed would never get past the Elite Eight) to a man with a 10-year, $30 million contract that puts him not too far behind the nation's highest-paid coach, Florida's Billy Donovan, who makes $3.5 million per season.

Meantime, I think I've found the secret to ridiculous wealth:

Step 1: Recruit like crazy.

Step 2: Win a national title.

Step 3: Entertain interest from a rival school with an opening.

Step 4: Reject the rival school, proclaim your love for your current job and, yeah, keep recruiting like crazy.

Step 5: Count your Benjamins!

Seriously, the rises of Donovan and Self are pretty similar.

Both were (unfairly, I think) labeled "great recruiters/questionable coaches" up until the point they were literally cutting down national title nets. Donovan lost in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament five straight years before winning the 2005-06 championship and Self had fallen in the first round in two of the three previous seasons before winning the 2007-08 title.

Some weren't happy with those results, and they voiced their opinions on radio shows and message boards.

But suddenly it all clicked and the reputations of Donovan and Self changed drastically.

Then their savings accounts changed drastically, too.

AKRON, Ohio -- Here's Monday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: So how long did that NABC recommendation last?  Was it even a month?  It kind of looks bad when one of the most high-profile coaches (Billy Donovan) completely disregards the suggestion (by taking a commitment from rising sophomore Austin Rivers).  I know it is not a rule but a recommendation/suggestion, but does this mean all bets are off and teams can go back to doing what they were doing?  Full disclosure, I am a Kentucky fan and I think the "rule" is dumb.  If a coach wants to offer a kid and the kid and his family want to accept, what's the problem?  So, what do you think happens now with recruiting?

-- Kevin

I got a lot of emails like this, including one from a Kentucky fan wondering why Billy Gillispie was ridiculed for taking a young commitment while Donovan did it without much of an uproar. I actually asked Gillispie about this Sunday night, and he just smiled without comment. But I think the simple answer is that Gillispie committed an eighth-grader instead of a ninth-grader -- which just seems a lot younger, for whatever reason -- and that he did it in a state where basketball rules 12 months a year. Meantime, Donovan's young commitment came in a state where basketball is secondary and at a time (the week after the NBA Draft) when people weren't paying attention much. I mean, the week after the NBA Draft is vacation time, far as I'm concerned. So when that story came down last week I was on vacation (though I still wrote it) and I know at least one other national college basketball writer who was on vacation, too.

In other words, Donovan has impeccable timing.

But in all seriousness, I'm mostly with you, Kevin. I don't necessarily believe the rule is "dumb" but I do think it's going to be incredibly difficult to enforce because verbal commitments don't actually mean anything anyway and nobody is binded by them. So how can a coach be forbidden from "offering" something that can't be offered in reality? And even if he is, the NABC will never be able to stop a young prospect from telling a reporter he wants to go to Kentucky or Florida, and all Kentucky and Florida have to do in response is tell the NABC that they haven't technically offered anything and that though the prospect might've been under the impression that a scholarship was his if he wanted it, a scholarship was never formally offered and what can you do?

Anyway, do you see my point?

My basic rule on rules is to only have them if they can be enforced, and I just don't think this can be enforced. So my suggestion would be for the NABC to state its position and let coaches do what they will, then focus on cleaning up what really needs to be cleaned up, and what can.

Billy Donovan completed his Florida staff this weekend by hiring Clemson assistant Shaka Smart, sources have told CBSSports.com. An official announcement is expected later this week.

Smart is considered one of the brightest young assistants in the business and was instrumental in the rise of Clemson basketball the last few years under Oliver Purnell. The 31-year-old with a bachelor's degree in history from Kenyon College and a master's degree in social science from California University of Pennsylvania will fill the void left on Donovan's staff left by Lewis Preston, who resigned from Florida last week to take a similar position at Penn State.

Donovan's staff now consists of Larry Shyatt, Rob Lanier and Smart.

The Gators should be a preseason Top 25 team.