Donovan, Pitino meet with Final Four trip on line

PHOENIX – Billy Donovan knew a bad idea when he heard one.

Put on this cowboy hat and these spurs and we’ll take a picture of you, his coach told him. Maybe we’ll even put it on the front of the team program.

“I was not happy about doing that,” Donovan said.

Rick Pitino rarely steered him wrong, though. A quarter-century since that fateful photo at Providence, “Billy The Kid” has become a championship coach with a legacy, and the guy who made him dress up that day isn’t doing so bad himself.

Today, they meet on opposite sides of the court – Pitino trying to make his sixth trip to the Final Four and second at Louisville and Donovan going for a fourth Final Four with the Florida Gators.

Pitino is 6-0 in the head-to-head matchups, almost all those results explained because he had the better talent when the two met. None, however, has come with the stakes this high or the emotions so mixed.

“Not only did we have success together, but we really, truly love each other,” Pitino said. “Billy is like a son to me.”

Not too long after Donovan’s playing days ended Pitino hired him as a graduate assistant at Kentucky. Donovan is in his 16th year with Florida.