What Is Billy Donovan's Net Worth and Salary?
Billy Donovan is an American college basketball coach and former college and professional basketball player who has a net worth of $18 million. Billy Donovan has coached the college teams the Marshall Thundering Herd (1994–1996) and the Florida Gators (1996–2015) and the NBA teams the Oklahoma City Thunder (2015–2020) and Chicago Bulls (2020–present). After college, Billy played for the Continental Basketball Association teams the Wyoming Wildcatters (1987) and Rapid City Thrillers (1988–1989) and the NBA team the New York Knicks (1987–1988). In college, Donovan led the Providence Friars to the NCAA Final Four in 1987, making him one of just four men to play in the Final Four and coach a team that won the NCAA championship (2006 and 2007 with the Gators). Billy was named SEC Coach of the Year three times, and he won the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2010.
Contracts and Salary
During his time with the Florida Gators, Billy earned $3.9 million as a base annual salary. That was enough to make him one of the highest paid college basketball coaches in the world.
In April 2015, he became the head coach of the NBA team the Oklahoma City Thunder, signing a five-year deal worth close to $30 million.
In September 2020, Billy Donovan was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. The deal came with a four-year contract worth $24 million. That works out to an average annual value of $6 million per year.
Early Life
Billy Donovan was born William John Donovan Jr. on May 30, 1965, in Rockville Centre, New York. He is the son of Joan Donovan and Bill Donovan Sr., and he grew up in a Roman Catholic household with older sister Margaret. Bill Sr. played basketball for the Boston College Eagles and was one of the top three leading scorers in the history of the men's basketball program. He was employed in the textile industry, and he sometimes coached Billy's youth basketball teams. Donovan attended St. Agnes Cathedral High School, where he was a member of the basketball team. During Billy's senior year, the school won the Long Island Catholic High School Championship with Donovan playing the position of point guard.
After graduation, Donovan attended Rhode Island's Providence College on an athletic scholarship. He didn't get much playing time during his first two seasons on the Providence Friars, but as a junior, he was named the team's starting point guard and averaged 15.1 points per game. As a senior, Billy led the Friars to the Final Four, won the Southeast Regional Most Valuable Player award, and was selected for the 1987 Big East All-Tournament and All-Big East first teams.
Playing Career
In the 1987 NBA draft, Donovan was the 68th overall pick and was drafted by the Utah Jazz. He was waived before the start of the regular season, and he subsequently signed with the Continental Basketball Association team the Wyoming Wildcatters. Former New York Knicks assistant coach Rick Pitino, who coached Billy during his last two seasons at Providence, became head coach of the Knicks in July 1987. A few months later, the team signed Donovan to a one-year contract. Billy played the position of reserve guard for the rest of the 1987–88 season, and he averaged 2.4 points per game. In March 1988, Donovan was waived by the Knicks, so he played for the CBC team the Rapid City Thrillers during the 1988–89 season and averaged 10.1 points per game. He left the CBC in early 1989 and began working as a stockbroker at a Wall Street investment firm, but he didn't enjoy it. After a few weeks on the job, Billy called Pitino to ask for advice about pursuing a career as a basketball coach, but Pitino felt that Donovan lacked the communication skills that are necessary for coaching. In April 1989, Billy called his former coach again, and since Pitino was leaving the Knicks to take a head coach position at the University of Kentucky, he agreed to let Donovan be his graduate assistant.
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Coaching Career
After spending one season as a graduate assistant, Billy became assistant coach in 1990 and associate head coach in 1992. From 1994 to 1996, he served as head coach of the Thundering Herd at Marshall University, becoming the NCAA Division's youngest head basketball coach at the age of 28. After the team won the 1995 Southern Conference North Division title, Donovan was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year.
In 1996, he became the head coach of the Florida Gators at the University of Florida, and he stayed there for nearly 20 years. During his tenure as head coach of the Gators, the team won two NCAA championships (2006 and 2007), four Final Four championships (2000, 2006, 2007, and 2014), four SEC tournament championships (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2014), and six SEC regular season championships (2000, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2014), earning Billy SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2011, 2013, and 2014. Donovan led the Gators to a 30-game winning streak in 2014, and in February 2015, he earned his 500th career win.
In April 2015, he became the head coach of the NBA team the Oklahoma City Thunder, signing a five-year deal worth close to $30 million.
In September 2020, it was announced that Billy would be leaving the Thunder since he and the team couldn't agree on a contract extension. Donovan was hired by the Chicago Bulls later that month after the team offered him a four-year deal reportedly worth $24 million.
Personal Life
Billy married Christine D'Auria on August 5, 1989, and they have welcomed four children, Bryan, William, Connor, and Hasbrouck. Their fifth child, Jacqueline, was stillborn, inspiring Donovan to get involved with children's charities and raise money for the Gainesville children's hospital. William joined the Florida Gators as a reserve guard in 2013, and he followed in his father's footsteps and became a basketball coach. In 2008, Donovan and Urban Meyer, who was the head coach of the Florida Gators football team at the time, co-chaired a campaign to raise $50 million for the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program. University of Florida President Bernie Machen established the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program in 2006 to help "ensure a vibrant future for the state by enabling qualified Florida high school graduates to attend the state's flagship university." Billy was involved in the development of Gainesville's St. Francis High School, helping to raise funds for the school, which opened in 2004 and expanded four years later.
Awards
Donovan was honored with the United States Sports Academy's Amos Alonzo Stagg Award in 2006, and in 2010, he won the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award. Billy was named SEC Coach of the Year three times (2011, 2013, and 2014), and he earned the title of SoCon Coach of the Year in 1995 and NBCA Co-Coach of the Year in 2020.
Real Estate
In 2018, Donovan sold his 6,400 square foot home in Gainesville, Florida, for $1.8 million. The six-bedroom home was built in 2002, and an adjacent 1,200 square foot space sits on the property. In 2015, he paid $1.15 million for a 4,078 square foot home in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma. Billy sold the four-bedroom home for the same price in November 2020, and a few months later, he purchased a 5,200 square foot, six-bedroom home in Chicago for $3.5 million.
