A familiar face and an old friend will be joining Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan in Gainesville, FL next season. On Tuesday, the University of Florida announced that a pair of former head coaches – John Pelphrey and Norm Roberts – have been hired as assistants for the basketball team.

“Having John back will be a great addition to our program,’’ Donovan said in a school release. “Obviously, he has a level of familiarity with me and with the University of Florida makes this a great fit. John’s a great coach, he’s a great friend and has a love for Florida, and we’re excited to bring him back. Being from New York, I’ve known Norm for a long [time]. He’s an outstanding coach, he’s a great recruiter, has high character and integrity and I’m thrilled to have him on our staff here at Florida.”

An assistant at Florida for six seasons (1996-2002), Pelphrey will be reunited with his close friend and mentor. He played under Donovan (an assistant at the time) and head coach Rick Pitino with the Kentucky Wildcats and served as an assistant on Donovan’s first coaching staff for two seasons with the Marshall Thundering Herd (1994-96). He joined Donovan when he was hired by UF, helping lead the Gators to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Pelphrey left in 2002 for a head coaching gig with the South Alabama Jaguars, where he led the team for five seasons. He won the Sun Belt Championship, was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year and brought his squad to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006. USA would end up falling to Florida in the first round.

Noticing his success at a smaller school, Arkansas hired him to lead their program in 2007. Pelphrey brought the Razorbacks their first NCAA Tournament victory since 1999 in his first season but failed to replicate his success over the following three. He was fired by Arkansas on March 13 even though he had a top-tier recruiting class on its way in.

Roberts, who does not have any direct coaching connection to Donovan, is – like his new boss – a native New Yorker. He most recently served as head coach of the St. John’s Red Storm from 2004-10 but was fired on March 19, 2010, after leading the team to an unimpressive 81-101 record in six seasons.

Donovan is in the middle of reshaping his coaching staff as he has now lost all three of his 2010-11 assistants in one offseason. Long-time cohort Larry Shyatt accepted the top job at Wyoming, assistant Rob Lanier is returning to coach at Texas, and assistant Richard Pitino will join his father’s staff at Louisville.

OGGOA learned on April 3 that Florida Atlantic assistant Matt McCall is a top candidate to fill a role on Donovan’s revamped coaching staff. Another option is former Florida player Brett Nelson, who coached under Pelphrey at Arkansas last season.

Photo Credit: Unknown, Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Tags: Billy Donovan, Brett Nelson, Coach of the Year, John Pelphrey, Kentucky Wildcats, Larry Shyatt, Marshall Thundering Herd, Matt McCall, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, NIT, Norm Roberts, Richard Pitino, Rick Pitino, Rob Lanier, South Alabama Jaguars, St. John's Red Storm, Sun Belt, University of Florida

UPDATED STORY: Donovan adds Pelphrey, Roberts to Gators staff

Former Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Pelphrey will rejoin the Florida Gators basketball team as an assistant coach, a source told Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports Tuesday. An assistant at Florida for six seasons (1996-2002), Pelphrey will be reunited with Gators head coach Billy Donovan, his close friend and mentor.

Pelphrey played under Donovan (an assistant at the time) and head coach Rick Pitino with the Kentucky Wildcats and served as an assistant on Donovan’s first coaching staff for two seasons with the Marshall Thundering Herd (1994-96). He joined Donovan when he was hired by the University of Florida, helping lead the Gators to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Pelphrey left UF in 2002 for a head coaching gig with the South Alabama Jaguars, where he led the team for five seasons. He won the Sun Belt Championship, was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year and brought his squad to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2006. USA would end up falling to Florida in the first round.

Noticing his success at a smaller school, Arkansas hired him to lead their program in 2007. Pelphrey brought the Razorbacks their first NCAA Tournament victory since 1999 in his first season but failed to replicate his success over the following three. He was fired by Arkansas on March 13 even though he had a top-tier recruiting class on its way in.

Donovan is in the middle of reshaping his coaching staff after losing long-time assistant Larry Shyatt to a head coaching job with Wyoming. He may also see Rob Lanier head out the door to be an assistant at Texas, and Richard Pitino could join his father at Louisville, which suddenly has an opening.

OGGOA learned on April 3 that Florida Atlantic assistant Matt McCall is a top candidate to fill a role on Donovan’s revamped coaching staff.

Photo Credit: Carrie Pratt/St. Petersburg Times

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Billy Donovan, Coach of the Year, John Pelphrey, Kentucky Wildcats, Larry Shyatt, Marshall Thundering Herd, Matt McCall, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Richard Pitino, Rick Pitino, Rob Lanier, South Alabama Jaguars, Sun Belt, University of Florida

Overseas in Spain starting every game for C.B. Gran Canaria 2014 of the ACB, former Florida Gators two-time National Championship-winning point guard Taurean Green took some nearly 45 minutes out of his busy schedule to sit down with OGGOA for a wide-ranging, in-depth interview late Tuesday evening.

Green, one of the four members of the Oh Fours and an integral part to the team’s success from 2005-07, discussed at length his college career and continuing relationship with his Gators teammates and coaches. He also provided some insight into what the current team is going through during their 2011 NCAA Tournament run and how they can improve going forward and make the most out of their opportunity.

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: With your father being a former NBA player and college coach as your adviser, what was it about Florida and Billy Donovan that had you winding up playing for the Gators out of high school?
TAUREAN GREEN: “Obviously Coach Donovan was a huge factor, the style of play, Coach [Anthony] Grant was a huge factor, too. It was just basically the style of play, how they get up-and-down [the court], and he’s a guard’s coach. I knew that he played for a great coach in Rick Pitino at Providence, and then he played some years in the NBA. Just from what everybody told me and from what I heard, he’s a guard’s coach and you’ll definitely get better [playing for him]. He’ll give you freedom out there but along with the freedom comes responsibility in running the team.”

AS: Your first year at Florida was obviously an adjustment as there were still a bunch of upperclassmen holding starting roles on the team. How was it walking into a team with established guys like David Lee, Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson already comfortable with each other and running the show?
TG: “That was good for me. Some guys can adapt – you see freshmen get thrown into the fire right away nowadays. I felt like I needed that year to go against Anthony Roberson and all those guys just to get my feet wet. At the same time, I knew that I was going to be getting better going against Peep every day in practice. They led the way, and we just tried to contribute in whatever way we could.”

AS: You won the SEC Tournament that season and were a No. 4-seed going into the NCAA Tournament. What was it like playing at such a big stage so early in your career?
TG: “It was fun! When I was at Florida, the main thing was we just lived in the moment. We took it game-by-game. We wanted to do stuff that no other team really had done at Florida. We knew that we had David, Matt and Anthony, and we just wanted to contribute in any way we could. The main thing was just going out and playing hard, doing whatever it took to win.”

Read the rest of our exclusive interview with Taurean Green…after the break!
Continue Reading » Taurean Green: “We knew nobody could beat us.”

Tags: ACB, Adrian Moss, Al Horford, Alex Tyus, Andy Miller, Anthony Grant, Anthony Roberson, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Chris Richard, Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Corey Brewer, David Lee, Draft, Erving Walker, EuroCup Challenge, Gran Canaria, Jaycee Carroll, Joakim Noah, Kristen Youngblood, Lee Humphrey, Matt Walsh, National Championship, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, New York Knicks, Oh-Fours, Olympics, Patric Young, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Pitino, SEC, SEC Tournament, Sidney Green, Sweet 16, Taurean Green, Vernon Macklin

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

1 » It is quite obvious that former Florida Gators guard Carl Johnson is a large man. Florida fans have known this for quite some time and NFL folks got to see it for themselves during the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine when he weighed in at an event-high 361 lbs. However, Johnson’s size is not solely due to eating habits or not working out but rather the medicine he takes to combat his Crohn’s Disease. “[It’s] like arthritis in your intestines,” he told the Palm Beach Post’s Ben Volin. “Crohn’s patients are known for dropping massive amounts of weight, like 20 pounds in a week. So [the medicine] makes me gain weight. It makes me retain water. But it also keeps me alive, so it’s a double-edged sword.” Luckily for Johnson, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard (who also has the disease) has been there for him from the beginning. Read more about his struggles with the disease and preparation for the 2011 NFL Draft.

2 » He may be a bit biased due to his son being an assistant on the team and the fact that he coached Florida head coach Billy Donovan while both were at Providence, but Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino tabbed the Gators as his dark horse candidate for a national title during a recent appearance on the Colin Cowherd show on ESPN Radio. “Everybody overlooks Florida,” he said. “Obviously Billy Donovan played for me, but I think Florida’s the type of team with three seniors in the front court with a very quick backcourt. They’re a team that could beat anyone on a given night. I look at Florida. Although they are ranked [12th] in the nation, nobody talks about them as a potential national champion. But they have the experience in their head coach, they have the experience in the frontcourt, the returning backcourt.”

3 » You have to be strong in order to play fullback and linebacker. You have to be even stronger to carry your family on your back when your mother suffers a cerebral aneurysm, undergoes multiple surgeries and has years of recovery ahead of her. Florida freshman FB Hunter Joyer is both after helping his family survive the frightening near-loss of his mom. “To have her there to be able to share in that moment was amazing,” Hunter said of his mom joining him on National Signing Day. “I couldn’t imagine how upset I would be if she wasn’t there. Signing with Florida was one of my lifelong dreams, and she was there to share it and take pictures with me.”

4 » Four-star tackle Jessamen Dunker (Boynton Beach, FL) looks to be one of the top offensive lineman available in the 2012 recruiting class, and the Gators are already making a strong push for him. Having visited Florida for Junior Day already, Dunker was impressed with head coach Will Muschamp, the campus and town; he hopes to learn more about the school as he goes through the recruiting process. “I had a good time while they were showing me around,” Dunker told the Post. “I was driving through [Gainesville] and it seems like a place I could live.”

Tags: Billy Donovan, Carl Johnson, combine, Draft, Hunter Joyer, Jessamen Dunker, Junior Day, Louisville Cardinals, NFL, Rick Pitino, Will Muschamp

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

1 » Florida Gators senior sprinter Calvin Smith advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 400-meter dash at the USA Track & Field Championship at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, IA on Thursday. Smith placed second in his heat and moves on to the next race, which will also include former Florida sprinter, Olympic gold medalist and, four-time World Champion and indoor 400-meter world record holder Kerron Clement.

2 » Three Gators track & field athletes – sophomore sprinter Jeff Demps, senior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili and sophomore jumper Christian Taylor – have been named as top 10 finalists for The Bowerman, the sport’s highest honor. The men’s and women’s categories, respectively, will be knocked down to three finalists in the next few weeks, and voting from the 100-member panel will commence from there.

3 » Like its male counterpart, the Florida women’s basketball team has agreed to face the Central Florida Knights in 2010; however, instead of a regular season game, the two teams will square-off in the first round of the 2010 Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Nov. 13. The game time will be scheduled at a later date.

4 » Probably more than any other sport, college basketball coaches are hired based on relationships, working experience and recommendations. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino played an instrumental role in Billy Donovan’s elevation to the top job with Florida, and the Tuscaloosa News reports that he also helped Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Anthony Grant get his new job because of his relationship with Donovan. “When Alabama was getting ready to make a change, a good friend of mine, (UA trustee) John McMahon, called me to see about my interest in the job and I said, ‘John I’m not going to move any more in my life,’” Pitino said. “We talked about certain people and I said, ‘You just mentioned someone that I think is one of the premiere young coaches in basketball. He has all the intangible things that will make a great coach some day.”

Pitino also raved about Grant’s potential. “Look at what Billy Donovan has been able to do,” he said. “Anthony can do the same thing. [...] I think he’s going to take Alabama to great heights. It’s going to take a little time here. He’s got guys leaving that shouldn’t leave, and he’s going to get the players in that he’s comfortable coaching and he’s going to take them to the top of the SEC.” Pitino even helped facilitate the move, which you can read more about here.

Photo Credit: CBS via University of Florida

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Calvin Smith, Central Florida Knights, Christian Taylor, field, Jeff Demps, Kerron Clement, Mariam Kevkhishvili, Olympics, Rick Pitino, The Bowerman, track, USA, USA Track & Field Championship, WNIT, women's basketball

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