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GAINESVILLE - Billy "The Kid" Donovan arrived at UF a former 3-point gunner with a trip to the 1987 Final Four on his resume.
New Gators coach Mike White recalls his career at Ole Miss in less flattering terms.
White's calling card as the Rebels' point guard during the late 1990s?
"Probably more than anything, fouling," White joked Monday. "I was a really good fouler."
But if their playing careers had intersected, White - a defensive stopper and distributor with a career scoring average of 5.3 points at Ole Miss - would have welcomed the challenge of facing Donovan.
"I've been in this for 41 years, and arguably, and maybe not even arguably, he's the toughest S.O.B. that I know," his father and current Duke athletic director, Kevin, told reporters.
Mike White will need to have self-confidence and thick skin as he faces his toughest assignment yet.
Taking on Donovan, the player, one-on-one is nothing compared with squaring off with the legacy of Donovan, the coach.
When UF hired White away from Louisiana Tech last Thursday to replace Donovan, much of Gator Nation did a collective head scratch.
Donovan, now with the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder after 19 seasons in Gainesville, led the Gators to their first of four Final Fours at age 34 and first of two national titles when he was 40.
White, 38, still seeks his first trip as a coach to the NCAA Tournament. Even so, White rightly is proud of what he achieved during his four seasons at Louisiana Tech.
White's Bulldogs were 101-40, winning a nation-leading 49 of their past 50 home games. His past three teams won 27 games, 29 games and 27 but came up short during the conference tournament and settled for NIT bids.
Asked if he achieved all his goals at Louisiana Tech, White said, "We accomplished 99% of them."
Gators AD Jeremy Foley said White offered everything UF sought in its next head coach.
"Getting Mike White to join us has energized the whole department," Foley said. "You can feel it throughout the program."
White plans to energize his players and Gator fans with an up-tempo, aggressive approach end to end.
UF sophomore point guard Chris Chiozza said he has watched some video of White's past teams and called their style of play, "Fast. Really fast.
"It's like my AAU, a bunch of fullcourt pressing. As fast as you can play. That's how I like to play."
But White is about much more than Xs and Os.
White was quick to point out 11 players at Louisiana Tech exhausted their eligibility under him - nine graduated and two are on track to do so.
UF examined a number of candidates , but Foley said White's track record on and off the court sold Foley and his staff White was the right choice.
"Mike's name just kept coming up aces every time," Foley said. " It's amazing to me what he's accomplished.
"(He) understands the value of a total program."
White had his chances before to leave Louisiana Tech and return to the SEC, where he also had been a longtime Ole Miss assistant.
But reported offers from Tennessee and Missouri did not carry the same weight as a phone call from the Gators.
"We were committed, my family and I, Kira and I, and our five kids, to staying at Louisiana Tech until something really special presented itself," he said. "And this is certainly special."
Billy Donovan
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