GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The national anthem of the
United States had just echoed through the arena, followed by streamers
and confetti falling from the rafters.
From his place atop the
gold-medal podium, USA coach Billy Donovan hopped to the floor and began
weaving through members of his Under-19 basketball squad as it
celebrated, along with assistant coaches and support staff, an 82-68
victory over Serbia and just the third title from the age group in the
FIBA World Championships over the last 26 years.
Donovan was
looking for the team's manager, who happened to be his oldest son. It
didn't take long for the elder Billy to find younger Billy and pull him
close for a hug.
That's when the coach lifted the medal from around his neck and draped it over his son's.
"This is for you," the coach said.
How's that for a father-son moment worth its weight -- and then some -- in you-know-what?
"I
was not expecting that," young Billy said Wednesday. "I tried to give
it back to him, but he told me how much he loved me and how he wanted me
to have it. I was just kind of speechless after that."
Whatever needed to be said, had been.
Pretty
nice way to tip off what figures to be a unique year in the Donovan
household, what with young Billy, the transfer from Catholic University,
now eligible to join the 2013-14 Gators and take part in all team
activities -- including road game travel -- after sitting out last
season under NCAA transfer rules.
Donovan's son originally went
to Catholic because of its location in the nation's capital. He had
ambitions, perhaps, of working in politics.
But his love for the
game (and his family) brought him home. Donovan now thinks his future
may be as a teacher and coach, so he has a head start -- and nice
trinket -- on experiencing the game firsthand alongside his future Hall
of Fame father.
Dad is very happy about it.
"My parents
never missed any of my games, but because of my job I've missed a lot of
my kids' things -- and sometimes I feel bad about it," Coach Donovan
said. "I love that he's here, and I loved that he was able to be with us
over there."
That would be Prague, Czech Republic, site of the
FIBA Worlds. As manager, young Billy had the normal (and often
inglorious) duties and chores -- doing laundry, sweeping floors,
fetching Gatorade -- but he also was privy to all practices, team
meetings and coaching skull sessions, which featured his father huddling
with Virginia Commonwealth's Shaka Smart and Virginia's Tony Bennett,
who served as Donovan's two assistants.
"He was knee-deep in it all," father said.
And took advantage of it.
From
the tryouts in Colorado Springs, Colo. (where Mike Krzyzewski and Jim
Boeheim were among the USA selection committee) to the mini-camp in
Washington (at the NBA Wizards' headquarters) and for the two weeks in
Prague, young Billy Donovan soaked up the basketball like a sweaty
towel. He kept a daily journal of his time with the USA team, jotting
down observations from Smart's thoughts on the press to Bennett's takes
on his trademark defense, to his father's pre-game words of wisdom and
anything else he felt noteworthy.
"I had enough to write a
three-page reflection after the whole experience; just for myself," he
said. "Something I can cherish and remember."
One of the many.
Meanwhile,
Donovan, the dad, is receiving mega-praise among the USA Basketball
community for his handling of the team and how the players embraced his
message and style of play.
The U19 Americans had won just two of
the previous seven FIBA World tournaments, dating to 1987, in good part
because the 19-year-old threshold comes when really good college players
are turning pro while opposing national teams have, in some cases,
played together for months; even years.
But Donovan, Smart and
Bennett took a two-week-old team featuring four or five likely future
first-round draft picks -- including slam-dunk 2014 lottery point guard
Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State -- and got them to play for the flag.
"What
we were able to do was use the depth and athleticism of all 12 guys to
press, get turnovers, get to the offensive glass and rebound," said
Coach Donovan, who along with last year's gold-medal performance in the
U18 FIBA Tournament of the Americas is now 14-0 in international play.
"And the one thing I'll say about our guys -- who were a joy to coach,
one through 12 -- was they all had good motors and really good energy.
Winning to them was really important.
"And I give them credit
because every single one of those guys is a high-profile player, and
they all knew going in there would be some form of sacrifice that would
have to take place for us to win. No one was going to score 25 points.
No one was going to play 35 minutes. It was going to be a collective
effort and their buying into that was really tremendous."
Better than that, it was golden.
"If
you listen, some people are already calling it the best 19-and-under
team the US has ever had," said young Billy, whose mother will frame his
medal. "To be there and to think you were part of something so special,
I'm going to have to let that sink in for a while."
