Former Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan was recently elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

Florida to Honor former Donovan at Football Game

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI | By Cam Parker | Last updated Aug 21, 2025 1:04 PM ET

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Ahead of his induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, former Florida Gators men's basketball coach Billy Donovan is set to be honored by the university during the football team's season opener against Long Island on Aug. 30.

Donovan, who led Florida to a pair of national titles and multiple SEC titles, was announced as an inductee in April after first being announced as a candidate in December.

"Being in this game, you are only as good as the people around you," Donovan said, per the Gainesville Sun's Kevin Brockway and Noah Ram. "Certainly, that's the case in coaching. I've been fortunate to coach a lot of great players, guys that were committed to the game, to winning, and I was really blessed to have so many great coaches and people around me for such a long period of time."

hats off, coach

join us in honoring Coach Donovan on 8/30 at @GatorsFB

ℹ️ https://t.co/j32j0sKvJ5 pic.twitter.com/aUg3oAQOGZ
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) August 21, 2025

Leading the program from 1996-2015, Donovan is the Gators' all-time winningest head coach in program history with a record of 467–186 and remains the only coach in program history to reach multiple Final Fours (four), win multiple SEC regular season titles (four) and multiple SEC tournament titles (six).

After mid-tenure dominance with his pair of national titles in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, Donovan had a late surge with the Gators, leading the program to three-straight Elite Eight appearances from the 2010-11 season until the 2012-13 season.

During the 2013-14 season, which included a 39-2 overall record and 18-0 SEC record at the end of the regular season, and both SEC regular season and SEC tournament titles, Donovan's Gators finally got over the hump and made it back to the Final Four, where they were upset by UConn.

He previously was the only coach in program history to win a national title and an SEC tournament title before current coach Todd Golden led the Gators to 2025 SEC tournament and NCAA tournament titles.

Since leaving the program, Donovan has coached with the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder (2015-2020) and the Chicago Bulls (2020-present), where he recently signed a multi-year extension.

Donovan will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Sept. 5-6 in Springfield, Mass. Florida football's season-opener, when Donovan will be honored by the university, kicks off at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30.

Meanwhile, Golden's Gators, looking to follow in Donovan's footsteps and defend their title, will begin their season on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas against Arizona.

This article first appeared on Florida Gators on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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