FOUR BITS: Billy D to St. John’s? Allen’s recovery.

By Adam Silverstein
March 20, 2010

1 » OGGOA was going back-and-forth with Tommy Dee of The Knicks Blog during the Florida Gators’ first round 2010 NCAA Tournament game about the potential future move of head coach Billy Donovan to the St. John’s Red Storm. Citing the fact that St. John’s is now willing to spend money on a coach, Dee thought it was possible that a move could happen. Throwing gasoline on that fire is Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, who claims that Donovan is the “answer to St. John’s coaching needs.” From his time at Providence and with the New York Knicks to his continued ability to recruit out of the northeast, Weiss says the Red Storm should start and end their search with Donovan because “he is the perfect choice for this job.”

2 » On Oct. 16 and exactly one month later on Nov. 16, OGGOA reported that Gators redshirt sophomore forward Adam Allen’s career was likely over after a third surgery on his knee. Allen’s chronic knee, which was thought to be a bone bruise but turned out to be an MCL injury with a “loose” kneecap, appeared to be career-threatening. That is until he met with Dr. Lonnie Paulos at the Andrews Institute, who gave him some encouraging news, according to Gator Country. “[He] said he could probably do some stuff to it,” Allen said. “I had the surgery and after the surgery, he was pretty confident that I would be able to come back.” He hopes to get support from the NCAA to remain a sophomore since one injury has kept him out two seasons.

More on basketball and a National Coach of the Year winner after the jump!

3 » Troubling Florida basketball in 2009-10 was its lack of depth in the backcourt. With sophomore point guard Erving Walker starting, freshman Kenny Boynton being introduced to the college ranks and sophomore Ray Shipman not playing strong enough to instill confidence from Donovan, the team struggled to find a successful rotation. “I’ve got to do a better job of providing a little more depth to our team,” Donovan told Florida Today. “That’s definitely something we need. We need depth in our backcourt. [..] I’ve got to find a way to add some depth to our team. I think it’s going to be important. I think the nucleus of guys coming back I’m excited about.”

4 » Gators head track and field coach Mike Holloway has been named the 2010 U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Men’s Indoor Head Coach of the Year. Holloway, who also won the USTFCCCA’s South Region award for the men’s and women’s teams, led Florida to its first NCAA Indoor Championship in school history. The Gators also finished second at the 2010 SEC Indoor Championships.

12 Comments

  1. ReptilesRule says:

    Billy’s not going back there to make half of what he’s making now. He’s got it made in the shade in Gainesville.

  2. brlgator says:

    not to mention that program is a huge step down from UF. sju was a great bball school in the 70s 80s and early 90s but not anymore

  3. Donnie wise says:

    Local radio show in Portland Oregon (95.5 the game) is reporting that they will offer Billy d a cool 4 mill a year to be there next ball coach.

  4. Wingtee says:

    Calipari started this rumor so he could get Knight

  5. Donnie wise says:

    Sorry Adam I should of been a little more specific on what I meant. The Oregon ducks are going to see if Billy would be interested in being there next head coach. I failed to mention that in my previous comment. I do assume that the ducks first choice is pitino and after that it’s Donovan. Once again sorry.

  6. Donnie wise says:

    Yeah I doubt it also but I find it somewhat amuseing that Billy is courted by many diffrent schools while a good amount of gator fans are unhappy with his on court production of late. I for one have never imagined that we would see 2 N.C. Banners hanging from the rafters in my lifetime. I only hope he stays because bringing in another coach of his class and loyalty would be hard to do.

  7. Malikg says:

    Sorry to bombard you with messages on Twitter, Adam, but I still can’t DM you… It seems a little weird to me that UF doctors didn’t know what Adam Allen’s injury was, and then told him his career was over, and then he was able to get a better diagnosis outside of the program.

    I think we’ll know how the UF staff feels about his status along with that of Kadji, Shipman and Tishman depending on how many players they sign in the spring signing period. If somehow all of them stay and Allen is on scholarship, there will only be one spot remaining, which would obviously have to go to a guard.

  8. Malik- Please don’t take offense. I follow 219 people on twitter and my feed gets quite cluttered. Additionally, I prefer conversing through e-mail. You have my address – adam@205.132.151.20 – you can always e-mail me if you wish to speak. I find it burdensome to be limited to 140-character replies on twitter, especially as you do ask some detailed questions. 🙂

    As far as UF’s doctors, as good as they are, I often wonder why so many mistakes are being made with players. Harvin’s heel and migraines, some questionable ACL surgeries (Ingram), etc.

  9. Malikg says:

    Oh, no offense taken — you’ve just asked me a couple questions on DM, and I wasn’t able to answer.

    About the UF surgeons issue, I’m doing my best to look at this as rationally as possible, but a few things do give me pause about the situation. There have been a number of ACL RE-ruptures, from Dorian Munroe to Cornelius Ingram to Javier Estopinan, and I wonder if the work being done at Dr. James Andrews’ facility isn’t significantly more advanced…

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