Sports

Gators dominating, thanks to Donovan

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Coach Billy Donovan has his Florida team headed to Texas for the Final Four, favored to win his third national title. If he does, it will stamp the Long Island native as one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history. But this season may already be the best coaching job of Donovan’s history.

This NCAA Tournament is littered with NBA lottery picks, but you won’t find any on Florida’s roster. The Gators (36-2) probably won’t have a single player selected in the first round of the draft, and according to experts, possibly not a single player chosen.

So how could they have broken school records for victories (36) and consecutive wins (30), and become the first team to go unbeaten through an 18-game SEC schedule? How could they have been No. 1 in the polls since Feb. 24 without a single elite player?

The same reason they’ll be favored over Connecticut (the last team to beat Florida ) in the Final Four — their 49-year-old coach from Rockville Center, the man they doused in the postgame locker room after Saturday’s South regional win.

“It reflects on Coach Donovan,” said senior center Patric Young, the Gators’ emotional leader who wept after their 62-52 Elite Eight win over Dayton Saturday. “He’s been able to push us every single day from the beginning of the season all the way through, helping us stay in the moment one game at a time.’’

Donovan talks with Jacob Kurtz during a timeout against the Arkansas Razorbacks on Jan. 11.Getty Images

The Gators, who have four senior starters, had lost in the Elite Eight each of the past three years. When asked why this team has been able to handle adversity better than the previous few, Young didn’t hesitate.

“Recognition goes to Coach Donovan, first and foremost,” Young said. “He’s been able to challenge us and make sure we’re able to take that on. He puts us in scenarios in practice every single day to face it. Even if we don’t handle it well or we do handle it well, he’ll let us know.’’

Donovan has grown from the feisty recruiter Billy the Kid to a more mature coach who not only excels on the bench but has shepherded this team through rough patches, from injuries and absences to “figuring out” Casey Prather and suspending Scottie Wilbekin.

“The process we go through as a group,” Donovan said, “where we were the first day of practice with Wilbekin suspended six games, Dorian Finney- Smith suspended three, Damontre Harris not on our team, injuries, playing without a point guard in a game with Wilbekin and [Kasey] Hill being out, dealing with Will Yeguete’s knee, and Eli Carter can’t get himself healthy, our team was in complete shambles and disarray when we came back to school in August.

“To me, to see what those kids have done in terms of trying to come together as a team, that to me is really what it’s about more than just the end result of winning,” Donovan said. “We all want to win, and I hope we go all the way — I’d love that. But that stuff I probably have a lot more appreciation for now than I did when I was younger.’’

If the Gators do go all the way, Donovan will join Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun — and trail just Mike Krzyzewski (four), Adolph Rupp (four) and John Wooden (10) — as coaches with at least three titles. And it may be his finest work yet.

When he won his back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007, his Gators set a record by having three players — Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer — picked in the top 10 of the NBA draft. Noah and Horford have combined for four All-Star berths. This team has no such talent.

Neither NBAdraft.net nor DraftExpress.com projects a single Gator going in the first round this year, with the latter tabbing Young a possible second-round pick. But don’t bet against Donovan getting doused again in Arlington, Texas.

“We don’t have the best players in the country,” Florida assistant John Pelphrey told USA Today. “They play like they are the best players in the country. That’s because of Billy.’’