LOS ANGELES (October 14, 2009) – University of Florida Head Basketball Coach Billy Donovan will be honored with the John R. Wooden Award’s “Legends of Coaching Award” in 2010, Wooden Award Chairman Duke Llewellyn announced today.

Coach Donovan will be recognized, along with the men’s and women’s 2010 Wooden Award winners and the Wooden Award All-American teams, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April of 2010. The “Legends of Coaching Award” was adopted by the Wooden Award Committee in 1999.  The first recipient was Dean Smith of North Carolina. The award recognizes the achievement of coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden’s high standards of coaching success and personal integrity. The honorees are selected based on character, success on the court, graduation rates of student-athletes in their basketball program, coaching philosophy, and identification with the goals of the John R. Wooden Award.

Coach Donovan has compiled a career record of 310-126 (.732) in 13 seasons at Florida and has recorded 11 straight 20-win seasons with nine NCAA Tournament appearances. He led the 2006 and 2007 Gators to back-to-back NCAA titles, the first school in 15 years to do so. In 2006 the Gators won a then-school-record 33 games, including the final 11 of the season, winning the SEC and NCAA Tournament titles. The 2007 Gators immediately bested that mark, winning a school-record 35 games and another NCAA Championship.

Donovan is one of only four active coaches to have guided teams to multiple NCAA titles; the other three, Mike Krzyzweski (3), Roy Williams (2) and Jim Calhoun (2), are previous Legends of Coaching honorees. Donovan and Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp are the only SEC coaches to have won multiple titles.

In a 15-year head coaching career that includes two seasons at Marshall, Donovan’s overall career record stands at 345-146 (.703). Donovan played four seasons at Providence College (1983-87), where he was a two-time All-Big East selection, and spent one year with the New York Knicks (1987-88) before beginning his coaching career. He was inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame in 1999. The 44-year-old Donovan is the youngest recipient of the Wooden Award “Legends of Coaching” honor.