Now that the University of Florida has hired Michael White to replace longtime coach Billy Donovan, one of Donovan’s longtime assistants appears to be leaving Gainesville. According to Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun, Gators assistant Anthony Grant will follow Donovan to the NBA and be an assistant for him with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Told tonight Anthony Grant definitely following Billy D to OKC.
— Pat Dooley (@pat_dooley) May 8, 2015
Just a few weeks ago, Grant had been re-hired as an assistant at Florida after being fired as the head coach at Alabama. Shortly afterward, Donovan was hired to coach the Thunder, and now Grant will follow him and continue a coaching relationship that has existed in some way, shape or form since 1994, when Donovan was the head coach at Marshall.
After coaching under Donovan for 13 years, Grant was hired as the head coach of Virginia Commonwealth in 2006. He led the Rams to two CAA championships and two NCAA tournament appearances in three years before moving on to Alabama. He never managed to right the ship in Tuscaloosa, but still owns a respectable career coaching record of 193-110.
He will now join his good friend in the NBA, and maybe it won’t be long before we see Grant interviewing for NBA head coaching jobs. Either way, this is a great get for the Thunder, as Grant and Donovan have shown time and time again that they work well together.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
