OKC Thunder: Donovan's Accomplishments At Florida Underrated

Oklahoma City got their man. It's clear the Thunder brass barely considered anyone else to fill the head coaching vacancy that opened just eight days ago. Florida coach Billy Donovan, who will be introduced on Friday at 1:30 p.m. CT (Live on News 9 and News9.com),  was always the guy and—as News 9 first reported this morning—is now officially the guy in Oklahoma City.

Let's be clear. Donovan is a great coach and this is a great hire for the Thunder. But that's based on what Donovan has done at Florida and his reputation as a coach. The quality of this hire is going to be determined by wins, championships, and keeping Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in OKC. If all those things happen, there won't be any room to say, “Well, so-and-so would've been a better hire,” or “Durant would've stayed if the Thunder had hired X.”

Is it possible the two-time national champion coach is underrated? I think so. An entire generation thinks of Florida as an annual national title contender in college basketball and that's entirely thanks to Donovan's coaching ability.

Related Story: FIRST ON NEWS 9: Billy Donovan Takes Over As Thunder Head Coach

Before Donovan arrived in Florida in 1996, the Gators had been to exactly five NCAA tournaments since the program's inception in 1915. In fact, Florida didn't make its first NCAA tournament appearance until 1987.

In 19 seasons in Gainesville, Donovan took Florida to 14 NCAA tournaments, four Final Fours and three more Elite Eights, not to mention back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Anyone doubting his coaching ability is not trying hard enough to understand how impressive Donovan's accomplishments at Florida were.

A great comparison would be Bill Snyder at Kansas State. The Wildcats were one of the worst football programs in the country before Snyder arrived and turned things around. Florida basketball wasn't quite at the level Kansas State football was, but it's a very similar situation.

In both cases, one man took an irrelevant program and made it respectable. Donovan went a step further and made Florida a champion.

Donovan's national championships show what he can do with elite talent. In 2006 and 2007, the Gators featured rosters loaded with NBA players, and they proceeded to dominate college basketball, particularly in big games when it mattered most.

The roster Donovan will inherit in OKC will have an unbelievable collection of talent, highlighted by Durant and Westbrook. There's not a lot Donovan has to do to lift the Thunder to a title. If OKC simply remains healthy, they'll be contenders. If Donovan can shore up the defense and elevate the team's play ever so slightly, they can be champions.

Donovan's looking to become just the second basketball coach to win an NCAA and NBA title in a career. Larry Brown is the only one to accomplish this so far, but Donovan's coaching ability makes him joining Brown in that exclusive club a real possibility.

The Thunder had to hire a coach who would have a great chance to convince Durant to stay in OKC after this season, as well as a coach who could win in the NBA. In Donovan, the Thunder may have accomplished both. We'll know one of those things in a year and the other, a few months after that.