How Donovan ties into Pitino, Iona's NCAA Tournament berth originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Billy Donovan has multiple times cited Rick Pitino as a paramount influence on his life -- both in basketball and outside of it.
During his post-hiring press conference with the Bulls, Donovan called Pitino the “greatest player development coach in the world.” Before Sunday’s tipoff against the Toronto Raptors, Donovan said: “Outside my mother and father, he’s (Pitino) probably the most influential person in my life.”
The relationship spans multiple stops. Coaching Providence in the mid-1980s, Pitino shepherded Donovan’s jump from role player to star scorer in his junior and senior seasons. The two met again when the Pitino-coached Knicks extended to Donovan a brief NBA role in the 1987-88 season. Then, Pitino jumpstarted Donovan’s coaching career by offering him a seat on his bench at the University of Kentucky just before its run of success in the 1990s.
Now, Pitino is back in the college ranks and the NCAA Tournament. After a run to a Metro Atlantic Athletic tournament championship, his Iona Gaels drew a No. 15 seed in the 2021 bracket and a first-round matchup with second-seeded Alabama.
For Pitino, that has to bring back memories.
NBC Sports
Thirty-four years ago this Friday, after all, marks the anniversary of one of the more memorable benchmarks of the 1987 Providence team that, as a No. 6 seed, reached the Final Four; A Sweet 16 upset of -- you guessed it -- Alabama.
Donovan led all scorers with 26 points in that affair, shooting 5-for-6 from 3-point range, slinging 10 assists and helping spearhead Pitino’s famed full-court press throughout. Find the full footage of the game here:
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In fact, asked by ESPN’s Rece Davis his thoughts on meeting Alabama again in March Madness, Pitino’s response was pitch-perfect. “Billy Donovan’s not walking through that door,” he said.
That’s, of course, not only a reference to Donovan’s exploits, but also the famous Pitino press conference from his days coaching the Celtics -- almost exactly 13 years later -- in which he urged local fans and media to come to grips with the reality of the team’s rebuild instead of clinging to the legends of decades past.
“Larry Bird’s not walking through that door, fans,” Pitino said that day. “Kevin McHale’s not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through the door, they’re gonna be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working and going to improve.”
Barring the rapid development of time-traveling technology, 21-year-old “Billy The Kid” -- who averaged 22.8 points, 8.4 assists and 2.4 steals while shooting 14-for-22 from 3 in Providence’s tournament run that season -- isn’t strolling through Iona’s doors either.
That’s a shame for Pitino. But surely, his pupil will be rooting him on from Chicago.
“I talked to him (Pitino) today actually for a while,” Donovan said on Selection Sunday. “I’m really, really happy for him."
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