It happened when he looked across the room and saw Anthony Grant and John Pelphrey sitting there.
These are two close friends, two men who used to sit beside Donovan on the Florida bench, his assistant coaches. Now, they are head coaches in the SEC just like Donovan.
"It makes me feel like I'm getting old," Donovan said. "Those guys were young men when I hired them. I was young, too. But you know what's great also, as I was sitting there, looking at those two guys today, here I am, I've been in this league going on 14 years and now I've got two of my assistants that worked for me who are now coaching in the SEC. It's a great thing."
UF athletic director Jeremy Foley has felt similar emotions at the meetings this week watching Grant and Pelphrey mingling with Donovan and the other league coaches. One-fourth of the SEC's basketball coaches are now what Foley considers Florida guys, coaches who were once on the UF bench together.
"Obviously, Billy is the dean of coaches in this league," Foley said, "and he's got those two national championships. He's a special talent. We're blessed to have him and we were blessed to have those two guys for a long time.
"You sit there with great pride when you look across the room. They are not only two very, very good coaches, but two of the greatest guys you'll ever want to be around. I love those guys. It's fun to have them in the league, even though it's not fun to play against your friends. We're all very, very proud of them.
"It shows Billy's ability to teach, his ability to hire quality people. I'm sure Billy is very, very proud of those guys. And Donnie Jones."
