Jones: Gators' Donovan isn't going anywhere

GAINESVILLE - It seems like just about every year about this time we hear the talk about University of Florida men's basketball coach Billy Donovan.

He's going to this school, that school. Remember? It was a slam dunk. Kentucky. Twice.

And then it's this NBA team, that NBA team. Knicks. Got to be the Knicks. Hometown. Nope.

Now the latest making the rounds is Minnesota and the Timberwolves. ESPN loves to act like they know something. How many times have they guessed and been wrong. Oops. Source's mistake, right.

How many times have dozens guessed and been wrong. Several national reporters confronted me in 2007 in the NCAA tourney and said I didn't know my own beat -- that Donovan was gone. I said write it and you'll look stupid.

They wrote it.

But all those folks slithered away only to come back soon after with more speculation, more rumors, more "expert'' analysis.

I've been around Donovan since he arrived at UF.

When he was desperate for anyone to pay attention he took the time to get up about 5 a.m., to go running and to explain how his team would one day be great.

Now he has media standing in line waiting for him to just give them a couple of minutes. It's changed. It's built.

Now everybody wants to be the one to say they were right when, if, Donovan leaves. So they jump. And jump and jump.

An Orlando TV reporter declared one year Donovan was gone, contract signed, done. Official. Phone rang, pleas from editors why I didn't know.

Wait, I said. Just wait.

Within 24 hours, the same TV guy looked like an idiot.

Still claims he has sources every year. Sources? What sources?

When the media and team created the latest rumors, you could smell it coming. Just a matter of who wanted to light the speculation where there's not a flicker of a flame to blow on. This time, it's dead wrong -- not happening, not close.

Of course, followers of Donovan have to wait and see. It seems over the years, one of the things we've found out about Donovan is he loves to be wanted.

But that want for love almost caused him heartbreak when he had to wiggle his way out of a contract with the Magic.

It was fitting in the first couple of rounds of the NCAA Tournament this year, he coached at the same arena the Magic now play. And he answered the same questions and he gave the same responses. Donovan never says never.

But this time is very different. Louisville's Rick Pitino kind of let the secret out when he talked about how Donovan has a thing for wanting a basketball court someday having his name on it. Nothing is official but it never is until the details are worked out.

Florida is the middle of spending about $50 million to revamp its basketball arena, the O'Connell Center. I kind of doubt it will get off the ground as fast as the school wants. But the hope is it would be ready for sometime next season. I'm guessing more like two.

The plans are all there, nice and pretty. Very ambitious. It will look nice. But fundraising takes time. So does putting up bricks.

If Donovan was completely honest, he would admit he wants to be there when the new arena opens -- whenever that is. Florida played basketball long before he came there but the truth is he is the one who built it. And they came.

Two national titles, a pair more Final Four appearances, a string of Sweet 16s and Elight 8s.

It's Donovan's program. End of story.

And while nothing is official, it's planned. Before the age of 50, the basketball court at the University of Florida will have Donovan's name on it. Everybody wait and act shocked now when ESPN says it has ANOTHER scoop on that one.

I've been there every year, every time the balls are rolled out and another season starts. This is home for Donovan. That court and that arena are home. He wants to see the finishing touches. He's not going to Minnesota. Or New York. Or whatever the next job is that opens up.

Ask fans at Kentucky. They thought they had him. They found out Donovan can't leave Gainesville. Not right now.

Truth is, he will leave some day, probably not all that far away. But not now. He's got some final pieces to put in place. If he stays at Florida and he coaches another decade or so -- which could happen -- he will pile up numbers that won't just make him a legend in Gainesville but in the game, as a whole.

Many say there's no doubt Donovan will be a Hall of Famer. He may thirst for it and eventually try the NBA. Remember a guy named Spurrier.

But this different. This is the program he built, this is his legacy. Donovan won't leave that now for something called the Timberwolves.

So the so-called national media who know so much more can keep throwing his name out and throwing it out. He kind of likes it, you can tell. Who wouldn't? Everybody wants to feel wanted no matter how long they've poured their lives into something.

But there's no bidding war. There's no race to win Donovan's love in this town. He knows he's wanted, with a five-year contract paying him more than he could ever spend, with a team filled with talent for next year and more on the way.

This is Donovan's school, Donovan's trophy case and Donovan's basketball floor.

Maybe some day he'll move on. Maybe.

But not now. He wants to be there when the new floor is rolled out. He wants to look down and see his name forever on it with a packed house cheering those years and years of work.

A lot of people outside of Gainesville hope it will end -- for their own selfish wants.

But don't count on it. Not now. Donovan is home and he's staying for a while yet. Let the media looking for a headline move on for now. You're wasting your time.

I'm not speculating. I'm drawing on having covered each and every year the man has been here. There's more that burns in Donovan than a paycheck and publicity. He wants to finish what he started.

Then we'll see. You can bet, someone will have a source. And the media just keeps embarrassing itself to be first at looking stupid.