We will not soon forget the rare vision we glimpsed Monday night when Florida conclusively proved it deserves a place in history for its victory over Ohio State, a heavyweight opponent if there ever was one.
The Gators claimed their perch with a cold-blooded efficiency that was as impressive as it was lethal.
A day earlier, coach Billy Donovan had peeked down a table toward guard Lee Humphrey and said, “I’m sure Lee probably hasn’t gone to bed without milk and cookies since he got here.”
It was an apt description of Humphrey’s benign image.
But against the Buckeyes, his eyes were hard as agate and his nerves were tensile strength as he spit out three-pointers with the same ease an ATM spits out $20 bills.
Humphrey reflected the unflappable calm all the Gators exhibited during the storm Ohio State’s Greg Oden threw at them.
The story of Florida’s future NBA first-round picks–Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah–spurning the pros for another year of school is a familiar one.
But the value of their past was never so evident as it was in the NCAA championship game.
The sight of four juniors and a senior giving life to all they had learned made the vision memorable.
Quite simply, it’s the hope here that other players across the land noted this moment–and the Gators’ unselfishness– as well.
Donovan shared that feeling, saying along the way to his team’s second straight title, “[Maybe] some of our guys have carved out a path. I’m not sitting here saying that guys leaving early to go to the NBA is the wrong decision.
“[Leaving] early is the wrong decision when they don’t want to [go] but feel pressured or are forced into [doing it]. . . .
“In today’s day and age, a lot of times these young kids feel [so much] pressure to get to that next level, to make money, to do those things that they lose out on the joy and the happiness of playing in college.”
The Kentucky question
There was, of course, much speculation about the future of Donovan, who some suspect will move to Kentucky and take over the asylum from which Tubby Smith escaped.
Donovan deflected all questions about that possibility, which leaves us to wonder why he would even consider such a move.
It’s not only that he has carved out his own little fiefdom in Gainesville, or that he has proved he can win championships at Florida and operate there without the insane expectations that would greet him in Lexington.
It’s not even that he would be just the second most acclaimed coach in the state of Kentucky, a notch below his mentor, Louisville boss Rick Pitino. It’s that we question just how special the Kentucky job is anymore.
Wildcats fans certainly feel it’s a job any coach worth his Armani should covet and crave, but their reference point is rooted in the ’50s and the ’60s and The Dark Age of Adolph Rupp.
Tom Izzo, for one, has proved you can build a power in an outpost like Michigan State. He has appeared in four Final Fours since Kentucky last played in one (1998).
Donovan has appeared in three since then (the other came in 2000) and notable too is Connecticut, which won the title in 1999 and 2004.
Even a guy like Texas’ Rick Barnes, who has money, facilities and a state full of high school recruits to draw on, has a better chance of winning it all than Smith’s successor at Kentucky.
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Smith raises `D’ bar
Minnesota’s hiring of Smith certainly upped the ante in the Big Ten, which now finds itself with another coach who demands daunting defense.
He may have had recent difficulties attracting top recruits to Kentucky and his taciturn manner may have offended its rabid fans, who prefer someone with a glad hand. But Smith’s best teams always performed with vigor and were difficult to score on, which means his lineage parallels his good friend Izzo’s.
His style is certainly transferable from one locale to another, which brings us to Todd Lickliter’s jump from Butler to Iowa.
Lickliter’s Bulldogs were one of the stories of this season, which they opened with victories over Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga and closed with a loss to Florida in a Midwest regional semifinal. Their calling cards were precision, patience and deep experience, virtues harder to find in bigger programs like Iowa’s.
This is not to suggest this formula is antiquated or doomed to failure. Florida, after all, just proved how successful it can be.
But it is rare these days to find a major school fielding a roster of accomplished upperclassmen, and there is also this to consider: At Iowa, Lickliter will be pursuing recruits and coaching players a level higher than those he pursued and coached at Butler. Will those recruits follow him? Will those players bend to his ways?
Then there is Michigan, which hired West Virginia’s John Beilein. A lifer with a resume that stretches back more than 30 years, he has a reputation for doing more with less than most coaches in the country. That is certainly an admirable label to carry.
But all his previous stops have been in the East, which means he will be at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting in the Midwest. The Wolverines had better hope he lives up to his reputation.
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