Billy Donovan, Florida Agree to New Contract: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

Billy Donovan and the University of Florida have agreed on a new contract that will keep him as the basketball coach through 2020.   

According to Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun, Donovan's new deal provides him more average annual money than his previous contract. 

"

Florida coach Billy Donovan has signed an amended, one-year extension through the 2020 season that will raise his average salary to a shade over $4 million per year. ... Under terms of the deal, Donovan’s base salary was $4.2 million in 2014-15. It will drop to $3.9 million next season and hold steady at $4 million per season from 2016-17 to 2017-20.

"

Per Brockway, terms of the contract were agreed to by Donovan and Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley last summer, and it was signed in December. 

Donovan and the Gators are coming off of a down season in 2014-15, going 16-17 and missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years, but he's built this program into one of the best in college basketball. 

Foley said earlier this year, via Thomas Goldkamp of 247 Sports, that he was hoping to keep Donovan around for a long time despite the disappointing way things played out this year:

"

If there’s one guy in the country who can figure all this stuff out, it’s that guy right there, because he’s as good as I’ve ever seen in every aspect of the game, and I’m not just talking about Xs and Os. I’m talking about recruiting. I’m talking about developing chemistry. I’m talking about work ethic. I’m talking about building a staff.

He’s special, so we’ll continue to be committed to him.

"

Since Donovan took over in 1996-97, Florida has made the NCAA tournament 14 times with two national championships in three appearances, another Final Four appearance last year and three consecutive Elite Eight runs from 2011-13.

Florida used to be associated strictly with football before Donovan arrived, but he's turned this into a perennial basketball power that happened to have a down year this season. His new deal reflects the commitment he's given the school and how they believe this was just a blip on the radar.