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.

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.

Donovan has compiled a career record of 310-126 (.711) 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.

Legends of Coaching Honorees

2010        Billy Donovan, Florida

2009                Rick Barnes, Texas

2008        Pat Summitt, Tennessee

2007                Gene Keady, Purdue

2006                Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

2005        Jim Calhoun, Connecticut

2004        Mike Montgomery, Stanford

2003        Roy Williams, Kansas

2002        Denny Crum, Louisville

2001        Lute Olson, Arizona

2000                Mike Krzyzewski, Duke

1999        Dean Smith, North Carolina

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.  It is bestowed upon the nation’s best basketball player at an NCAA Division I university who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA.  Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97) and last year’s recipients, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma and returning junior, Maya Moore of Connecticut.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps.   Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament.  The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and the All-American players in attendance.  It is hosted at The Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award weekend.