Florida Selects Marshall Coach

Billy Donovan, the basketball coach at Marshall who played and coached under Rick Pitino, will be the next coach at Florida, two newspapers reported today.

The Orlando Sentinel and the Florida Times-Union cited unidentified sources in their stories. A news conference is to be held today to announce the appointment.

Donovan, 30, will succeed Lon Kruger, who left a week ago after six seasons at Florida to coach Illinois.

Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley declined to confirm the hiring “until the process is complete.”

Donovan will sign a five-year contract, sources said. He had two guaranteed years left on a rollover contract at Marshall, where he was paid a little more than $100,000 per year.

Financial terms of Donovan’s deal with Florida are being completed, but the package likely will be worth about $400,000 annually.

Murry Bartow was on the Alabama-Birmingham bench as a player back in the early 1980s when father Gene Bartow coached the Blazers to national prominence after quitting UCLA.

It’s the younger Bartow who’s in charge now.

UAB assistant Murry Bartow, 34, took over as head coach Tuesday when his father stepped aside after nearly 19 years as the school’s lone basketball coach.

Gene Bartow will remain as athletic director at least through October 1997, when his contract runs out.

Jimmy Collins, passed over for the Illinois coaching job when Lou Henson retired, is the new basketball coach at Illinois-Chicago.

Collins replaces Bob Hallberg, whose record was 133-129 in nine years with Illinois-Chicago, 10-18 last season. He was reassigned to an administrative job.

The school said a news conference will be held today to announce the hiring.

Collins, 48, was an Illinois assistant and recruiter since 1983. When Henson retired, he recommended that Collins replace him. But Illini athletic director Ron Guenther selected Florida’s Lon Kruger.