Florida Atlantic Owls assistant coach Matt McCall is a top candidate for the vacant position on Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan’s coaching staff, two sources close to the team told OGGOA over the weekend.

The University of Florida’s director of basketball operations from 2004-08, McCall spent seven years under Donovan also serving as a team manager, head manager and graduate assistant. Donovan, who said last week that he wanted a young assistant to fill the spot vacated when Larry Shyatt departed for the head coaching job with the Wyoming Cowboys, has always held McCall in high regard.

Back in 2008, Donovan called him “a tireless worker and a first-class person” who “knows the state of Florida,” brings “the energy and passion necessary to be successful” and is someone he views “as one of the bright young minds” in coaching.

McCall has worked at FAU since 2008 and is one of head coach Mike Jarvis’s top assistants. He is responsible for bringing in the Owls’ best player, Gainesville native Greg Gantt, who averaged a team-high 14 points per game as a sophomore.

Should McCall be the one chosen for the position, the Ocala native and former all-area player would be returning home to North-Central Florida. If he joins the team, he would likely be Donovan’s third assistant on the bench with Rob Lanier taking over Shyatt’s duties and Richard Pitino continuing in his role.

Tags: Florida Atlantic Owls, Greg Gantt, Larry Shyatt, Mike Jarvis, Richard Pitino, Rob Lanier, University of Florida, Wyoming Cowboys

Returning to a team he led for one season over a decade ago, Florida Gators assistant basketball coach Larry Shyatt has agreed to become the new head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys. Florida head coach Billy Donovan‘s longest tenured assistant, Shyatt met with Wyoming officials in Atlanta, GA on Wednesday and hammered out a deal Thursday to pull him away from the university after a successful seven-year run.

“I’ve spent seven great years at the University of Florida helping to build a championship-caliber program, and this is one of the only places I would have considered leaving for,” Shyatt said in a Wyoming press release. “I’m excited about the commitment of the administration, and the passionate fan base I remember at Wyoming, and I can’t wait to meet, work with and develop a great relationship with the current team.”

Serving as an assistant across the country for 24 seasons, Shyatt accepted the head coaching gig with Wyoming in 1997 but only stuck around for a year. Clemson, where he was an assistant from 1994-97, nabbed him with a more lucrative contract and the allure of a higher-echelon program in a top-tier conference.

The Cowboys sued Shyatt for breaching his five-year contract, but the parties settled out of court when he agreed to pay back $286,000. Compiling a 70-84 record as a head coach, Shyatt was fired in 2003 and picked up by Donovan in 2004.

After Shyatt joined the team as an assistant, the Gators captured three Southeastern Conference Tournament Championships (2005-07) and back-to-back NCAA National Championships (2006-07). His praiseworthy recruiting efforts and outstanding defensive coaching made him a prominent reason for the team’s overall success.

“For me personally there’s both an excitement and sadness,” Donovan said in a statement. “Larry is one of my closest friends and his impact here at Florida over the last seven years has been immeasurable.”

Taking the job with the Cowboys, Shyatt will have the opportunity to work with his son, North Florida assistant coach Jeremy Shyatt, if he chooses to bring him along for the ride. Another coach Shyatt could add is UCLA’s Scott Duncan, who worked under him as an assistant previously at both Wyoming and Clemson.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports Shyatt has signed a five-year contract worth upwards of $700,000 per season plus incentives.

Check out this collection of articles from the Star-Tribune over a decade ago about Shyatt during his first stint with the Cowboys.

In related news… Florida assistant Richard Pitino, thought to be a front-runner for the Florida Gulf Coast head coaching job, was passed over when the university instead decided to hire Florida State assistant Andy Enfield on Wednesday. Pitino is still being considered for other head coaching gigs across the country.

Photo Credit: Unknown

Tags: Billy Donovan, Jeremy Shyatt, Larry Shyatt, National Championship, NCAA, NCAA Championship, Richard Pitino, SEC, SEC Championship, SEC Tournament, University of Florida, Wyoming Cowboys

Less than one year go, OGGOA learned that Florida Gators assistant basketball coach Richard Pitino interviewed with Iona for their head coaching vacancy. Just under 12 months later, head coach Billy Donovan revealed that the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles have contacted Pitino about filling their opening.

“They’ve contacted him,” Donovan told Florida Today. “I think they have definite interest in him. In my conversation with their AD it’s probably at a point right now where they are probably going to go through a process of looking at three or four different people and I think Richard is in that mix of people and I think there will be a point where Richard will really get a chance to sit down and talk and find out a little bit more one, his interest, and I think two, his interest. But there has been some contact made there.”

With Donovan’s coaching tree branching out at a Rick Pitino- and Dean Smith-like pace, it should be no surprise that another one of his assistants is garnering this type of attention. Six of Donovan’s former assistants (and one ex-player) were on college coaching staffs during the 2010-11 season.

“He’s definitely interested in the job,” Donovan said of Pitino. “He’s excited about the potential in the program, being relatively new, the school relatively new… he just wants to find out more. […] The other thing too is that he’s one of three, four or five people. I don’t think he knows where he’s at because they are going to kind of go through the process.”

Another Donovan assistant who may also have an opportunity elsewhere is Larry Shyatt. Rumored to be a candidate to return to coach at Wyoming over the last few months, Shyatt did not discount the possibility when The Gainesville Sun’s Kevin Brockway reached out to him about it.

“That’s a question I wouldn’t be able to answer unless we visited some. […] Had a great year there [1997-98]. Loved it.”

Tags: Billy Donovan, Dean Smith, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Larry Shyatt, Richard Pitino, Rick Pitino

For most players and fans, the Florida Gators squaring off against the Kent State Golden Flashes is just another out-of-conference game against a mid-major opponent before the Southeastern Conference slate begins. However, for Kent State walk-on and Gainesville, FL, native Brian Frank, Thursday’s game is a dream realized.

Growing up in Gainesville before going off to prep school, Frank never thought he would play college basketball. With encouragement from his brother and the Oh Fours, Frank wound up playing Division III hoops for the College of Wooster before deciding to transfer to Kent State – where his father is a provost – last year.

And even though he broke his wrist last week and will be unable to play on Thursday, just being on the court at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center dressed in a college uniform means the world to this driven young man.

OGGOA spoke with Frank on Tuesday (thanks to the good people of the Kent State athletic department) and asked him what it meant to him to be returning to his hometown on a college basketball team.

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: Thanks a lot for sitting down with us tonight. I know you guys are in the middle of finals while simultaneously preparing for Florida in a few days. Let’s start with how it all began for you. What was it like growing up in Gainesville?

BRIAN FRANK: “It was awesome. I was really growing into my love for the game right around the time the Oh Fours came to UF. My brother is good friends with them and, being a kid in high school, having Taurean Green and Joakim Noah and Al Horford sitting in the stands to watch you play is really something. I think what really made me want to follow basketball was my brother’s close relationship with them. Growing up, my brother was always my inspiration and he continues to be the reason I play, but he would always try to bring the Florida players around me to give me a good look at what college basketball was all about.”

AS: Spending so much time with those guys, did they say something in particular that resonated with you or gave you that little extra push to give college basketball a shot?

BF: “They were just always real supportive of me. To give you an example, I was on Facebook today and Taurean messaged me to check how things were going. When the [Atlanta] Hawks came to Cleveland, Al got me a couple tickets to see them play. Little things like knowing they care about how I’m doing really means a lot. But if you’re looking for a quote… When Joakim was at my [Bucholtz] high school games, he would always yell, ‘Take it to the baja little Frankie!’ That was fun.”

Read the rest of our interview with Kent State’s Brian Frank…after the break!
Continue Reading » Gainesville native returning home with Kent State

Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Billy Donovan, Brian Frank, Erving Walker, Joakim Noah, Justin Greene, Kenny Boynton, Kent State Golden Flashes, Larry Shyatt, MAC, Mike Rosario, O'Connell Center, Oh-Fours, Patrick Jackson, Richard Pitino, Rick Pitino, SEC, Taurean Green

Florida Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan and a number of players represented the team at the 2010-11 Florida Media Day on Wednesday in Gainesville, FL. Read on for news and notes about the upcoming season, first from Donovan.

DEPTH MEANS LESS IS MORE

It was obvious listening to Donovan speak Wednesday that he is excited about his team going into the season. With just a handful of weeks to go before Florida plays its first meaningful game, it is the Gators’ depth that he thinks will be integral to the team’s success. And because the team is so deep, Donovan hopes it will also be molded into an unselfish group, similar to the teams that produced back-to-back National Championships for him in 2006 and 2007.

“Right now today we have depth. And when I say we have depth, we have bodies, we have numbers,” Donovan said. “Can [sophomore forward] Erik Murphy really carve out a role for himself? Can [senior F] Alex [Tyus]? Can our veteran guys? For us to be a better team, some of our veteran guys are gonna have to take less. And that’s what really made that 2006-2007 team special. Because you know what? [Joakim] Noah could’ve scored more points. [Al] Horford could’ve scored more points. [Corey] Brewer could’ve scored. They all could’ve scored more, but they understood that less was better for the team.

“We’re going to have to have some older guys understand that less is better for the team. It’s OK for them to have less provided that we can somehow find a way to utilize that depth. Who is going to emerge out of that younger group? Looking at it on paper, we have depth. But you don’t have depth if you don’t have guys that can get into a role.

“We had depth a couple years ago in our front court but none of those guys could emerge to take control of the role that was out there for them, and then we didn’t have depth. I’m hopeful these guys, just with their mentality and their attitude so far, will take that on and give us the depth that we think we have.”

TWO SENIORS STEPPING UP AS LEADERS

Florida brings back three seniors this year with Tyus, F Chandler Parsons and redshirt F/C Vernon Macklin all coming together to form as a solid frontcourt. However, Donovan expressed that it was Parsons and Macklin in particular who have really stepped up as leaders for this young team through the offseason.

“Verbally right now [Parsons] and Vern are doing a great job, but I think the verbal part only goes so far. When they get on the court their actions have got to back it up,” Donovan said. “Chandler and Vern in particular, those two guys, want kind of that responsibility. It’s good for both of those guys. Vernon probably in the beginning first half of the season was kinda feeling his way through and then he started to show signs of the reputation he had in high school. And then Chandler, coming off of his sophomore year, really felt like he had something to prove and kind of got through that a little bit.

“Both of those guys, to me, they’re in a little bit of a danger zone in the fact that they now gotta take that next step and not get complacent and get comfortable. They’re trying to do all the right things and I would say the best thing they’ve done is with some new faces in our program, they’ve really tried to incorporate the group and make it a team and they’re reaching out and doing some of that stuff. And up to this point in the time with Chandler and Vern I’ve been very, very happy with what they’re trying to do leadership-wise.”

Read the rest of this 3,000-word recap of Donovan’s presser…after the break!
Continue Reading » 2010-11 Florida Media Day: Billy Donovan speaks

Tags: Al Horford, Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Chandler Parsons, Cody Larson, Corey Brewer, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Joakim Noah, Kenny Boynton, Kyle McClanahan, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Richard Pitino, Scottie Wilbekin, Vernon Macklin, Will Yeguete

Florida Gators basketball fans are not the only ones who recognize the team needs an influx of young talent next season. Head coach Billy Donovan is also well aware of this and is working around the clock to recruit more student-athletes before the 2010 class’ late signing period concludes on May 19.

Over the weekend, Donovan locked up former four-star recruit and Rutgers transfer guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, NJ). Though Rosario will not be able to compete until he is a redshirt junior in 2011-12, he fills a third spot in the team’s 2010 class alongside four-star forwards Patric Young (Jacksonville, FL) and Casey Prather (Jackson, TN).

Below are players who the Gators remain publicly hot after for this signing period:

» Three-star PF Will Yeguete (Melbourne, FL) – 6’7”, 210 lbs.
- Averaging 17.5 points and 15 rebounds
- Same high school – Florida Air Academy – as Walter Hodge
- Will choose between Florida, Georgia Tech and Indiana
- Leaning towards the Gators, will make announcement Monday

» Three-star PG Chris Denson (Midland, GA) – 6’2”, 180 lbs.
- Will choose between Florida, Western Kentucky, Buffalo and UNC-Greensboro
- Took an official visit to Gainesville, FL, this past weekend

» Three-star PF Cody Larson (Sioux Falls, SD) – 6’9”, 225 lbs.
- Averaging 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists
- Previously committed to Iowa
- Visiting Gainesville on Monday

The lowdown on five more high school basketball recruits…after the jump!
Continue Reading » 2010 basketball recruiting far from over for Gators

Tags: Billy Donovan, Brandon Young, C.J. Leslie, Casey Prather, Chris Denson, Cody Larson, Marcus Thornton, Matt Carlino, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Richard Pitino, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Scottie Wilbekin, Will Yeguete

At one point in his career, Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan was an up-and-coming assistant coach, learning under then-Kentucky coach Rick Pitino for six years (1989-1994) before moving on to his first head job with Marshall (1994-1996).

Since 2002, Donovan has lost four of his own assistants to head coaching gigs across the country, and three have done so well that they moved on to bigger and better programs. In 2002, John Pelphrey departed to take over South Alabama (he is now head coach at Arkansas). Anthony Grant was hired by Virginia Commonwealth in 2006 (he is now leading Alabama). A year later, Donnie Jones took off for Marshall (he was just hired by Central Florida).

Also departing the Gators in that time were Shaka Smart (who took over for Grant at VCU), Tim Maloney (who floated around but is now associated head coach at Massachusetts) and Tom Ostrom (who traveled with Pelphrey to USA and then Arkansas). Even former Florida guard Brett Nelson earned personnel gigs, working as director of basketball operations at Colorado State and VCU (under Grant) before becoming an assistant coach when Jones joined Marshall in 2007.

With Donovan’s coaching tree branching out at a Pitino- and Dean Smith-like pace, it should be no surprise that another one of his assistants is garnering plenty of attention for some college basketball head coaching job openings.

Richard Pitino, who joined the Gators’ staff this season as an assistant partially for his recruiting prowess, is a name being tossed around in rumors about various job openings including Jones’ vacant seat at Marshall, the top spot at Iona, a job with Wagner and the recently available position with Holy Cross.

The younger Pitino’s previous experience was as an assistant coach at Northeastern and Duquesne as well as under his father at Louisville; his name recognition and ability to recruit make him a valuable commodity for a smaller program.

No interviews have been requested and no offers have been made (that we know of), but often times – especially with college coaching jobs – when there’s smoke, there’s fire.

04/02 UPDATE: Pitino has been interviewed by Iona.

Tags: Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Brett Nelson, Dean Smith, Donnie Jones, John Pelphrey, Richard Pitino, Rick Pitino, Shaka Smart, Tim Maloney, Tom Ostrom

Though the score may not suggest it, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team (2-0) grinded out a 69-49 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles (1-2) Wednesday night in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Junior forward and sixth man Chandler Parsons led the Gators with great energy off the bench, scoring 15 points and 12 rebounds to record the team’s second double-double of the season.

Freshman guard Kenny Boynton and redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin were the other Florida players who shined offensively, scoring 22 and 15 points, respectively. Boynton shot 50% from the field while Macklin was 7-9 adding seven rebounds to his performance. Through two games, Boynton, Macklin and Parsons have accounted for 63.6% of the Gators’ offense (91 of 143 points). Sophomore point guard Erving Walker led the team with six assists and, though he was 0-10 from the field, added nine points on free throws.

The Eagles kept the Gators in check for much of the contest, going into the half with Florida only holding a 26-25 lead. Up 55-47 with 4:17 remaining, the Gators slowly pulled away to their eventual 20-point margin of victory. For the second straight game, Florida was on the verge of breaking a 579-game record of scoring at least one three-pointer. Parsons nailed one with around six minutes to go, and Boynton followed with the first make of his career from beyond the arc. The Gators are only 3-29 from three-point range on the season, an absurdly low number for a Billy Donovan-coached team.

Florida basketball returns to action Friday when they face the Troy Trojans at home in Gainesville, FL, at 7 p.m. The game is being carried by FOX Sports Florida, so be sure to check your local listings for availability.

Note: Louisville Cardinals head basketball coach Rick Pitino, father of new Gators assistant Richard Pitino, was in the house watching the game with Bill Donovan, Sr.

Tags: Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Georgia Southern Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Richard Pitino, Vernon Macklin