FLORIDA SEC PREVIEW: Draft departures hurting Donovan

— Fifth in a series previewing SEC basketball teams

Billy Donovan's back was a big deal at SEC basketball media days.

Not the fact that Donovan changed his mind about taking the Orlando Magic coaching job last June and is back at Florida - but Donovan's back spasms that had him in obvious pain as he talked with reporters.

"The other day, I got out of bed and couldn't stand up and had to crawl to the bathroom," Donovan said. "So that's kind of what I'm dealing with now."

Donovan, 42, flew on a private plane from Gainesville, Fla., toBirmingham lying face down after receiving an anti-inflammatory shot from Gators trainer Duke Werner, who accompanied the coach on the trip.

"It wasn't fun, I'll tell you that," Donovan said of the flight that lasted an hour and 40 minutes. "There wasn't any turbulence, thank God."

Gators junior guard Walter Hodge also made the trip.

"He's not 'Billy the Kid' anymore," Hodge said, using Donovan's nickname that goesback to his playing days at Providence. "He's 'Billy the Old One' right now."

Hodge said Donovan was struggling with the pain on the plane.

"He was screaming a little bit,"Hodge said. "He was jumping, so we had to tell him to calm down."

Staying calm doesn't figure to be easy for Donovan this season with the Gators losing their top six scorers from a team that wonback-to-back NCAA championships.

Five Gators were picked in the 2007 NBA Draft - Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah in the first round and Taurean Green and Chris Richard in the second round.

The top returning scorers are Hodge at 5.7 points per game and sophomore forward Marreese Speights at 4.1.

Hodge has 11 career starts,which qualifies him as Florida's most experienced player.

"I'm a lot more volatile in practice right now," Donovan said. "Last year, it just took me getting a little bit upset, and those guys got back on track.

"This group, they just don't know. They have no understanding of how to push through things yet. They want to learn, but they don't know it yet.

"We are at such infant baby steps right now with our team. They don't have an understanding yet of how hard they'll have to play to even give them a chance to win."

Florida was picked in this year's media poll to finish third in the SEC East behind Tennessee and Kentucky, and no Gators were among the 10 players on the preseason All-SEC first and second teams.

But other SEC coaches said it would foolish to underestimate the Gators.

"I would never go to sleep on Florida," South Carolina Coach Dave Odom said. "The last time they lost the bulk of their team, all they did was win two national championships."

After losing Anthony Roberson, Matt Walsh and David Lee,the Gators went into the 2005-2006 season counting on untested sophomores Brewer, Green, Horford and Noah. They led Florida to a combined 68-11 record the past two years, including 18-0 in the SEC and NCAA Tournament games.

Now it's time for returning players like Hodge, Speights and sophomore forwards Jonathan Mitchell and Dan Werner to step up. Donovan also has added another highly regarded freshman class, led by point guard Jai Lucas and forward Nick Calathes.

The most important returnee for Florida is Donovan, who appeared set to follow his star players to the NBA when he accepted a five-year deal with Orlando worth $5.5 million annually. But a few days later, he had a change of heart, Orlando let him out of the agreement and Donovan returned to Florida for his 12th season with a contract extension that pays him $3.5 million per year.

"It's one of those things that when you do it, you sit there, look back and say, 'What did I just do?' " Donovan said of his plan to coach the Magic. "And you take some time to sleep on it, and you realize it's wrong."

NEXT Kentucky

Sports, Pages 21, 23 on 10/31/2007

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