After firing Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder has a found a new coach in Billy Donovan, the long-time mentor of NCAA Division I team Florida Gators. News of Donovan's hiring as was first confirmed by The Gainesville Sun's Kevin Brockway.
Sources have confirmed to the Gainesville Sun that UF coach Billy Donovan has agreed to terms to coach OKC. Story upcoming.
— Kevin Brockway (@gatorhoops) April 30, 2015
No immediate word on financial terms of deal with OKC, but Donovan will need to pay a $500,000 buyout to leave his contract at UF. — Kevin Brockway (@gatorhoops) April 30, 2015
Oklahoma City Thunder's new head coach, who is a former New York Knicks player, also commented about his first NBA gig as a coach and thanked Gators community where he spent almost two decades of his career.
"I want to thank Jeremy Foley, the players, coaches and staff I've had the chance to work with during my time at Florida," Donovan told Adam Silverstein of OnlyGators.com.
"The administrative support and stability has been unbelievable here, and it is an incredibly difficult decision to leave that. I knew that it would take a unique opportunity to leave the University of Florida and that is clearly how I look at this situation."
News of Donovan potentially becoming Oklahoma City Thunder's new coach spread a few days ago after several reports claimed team star player Kevin Durant reached out to the 49-year old mentor.
"Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant has reached out to multiple former University of Florida players in the NBA to gain insight into Donovan, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and has become generally positive about the potential hiring."
Donovan will succeed Scott Brooks who stayed with OKC for seven years and took the team to one finals appearance. He will come into the team which barely missed the playoffs this season.
