Friendly coaches turn to foes in ASU-Florida game

Two old friends stood around and talked shop Monday. Florida coach Billy Donovan was the (slightly) younger guy, the point guard at Providence College in the mid-1980s known as “Billy the Kid,” once Rick Pitino arrived as coach.

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At that same time, a young Herb Sendek was hired as a grunt-man assistant.

A reunion of friends and systems takes place tonight at Wells Fargo Arena.

In the 20 years spanning various levels and coaching titles, Donovan and Sendek have never shared the sidelines until tonight’s Florida-Arizona State matchup in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.

Donovan talked at length about the friendship. Sendek praised his friend’s team’s play, but said little beyond the game itself.

“Herb has as strong a feeling for Billy as Billy does for Herb,” former NBA coach and Providence assistant Jeff Van Gundy said. “He’s just not going to shout about it in a press conference.”

Donovan was a nondescript player until his junior year, when he averaged 15 points per game in Pitino’s first season on the Providence bench.

He averaged 20 per game as a senior, where he earned his nickname and became the No. 1 reason behind the Friars’ stunning appearance in the 1987 Final Four.

Donovan worked on Wall Street for two years after college, then was hired to be Pitino’s low-rung assistant at Kentucky in 1989. Donovan maintains the slicked-back, Pitino-esque hair style.

Sans the hair style, Sendek followed, putting the former point guard and graduate assistant on the same staff. Sendek maintained his quiet, consistent disposition, round-the-clock work ethic and thinning hair.

Twenty years later, their friendship in the basketball universe has contributed to a scheduling standoff, which was likely to continue if not for the luck of the NIT brackets.

“It’s always a little different and awkward when you walk into a situation like this,” said Donovan, who’s had similar “reunions” with Pitino and former assistant Tubby Smith in his 12 years coaching Florida.

“We obviously haven’t gone out of our way to schedule each other over the years,” said Sendek, who experienced this with former assistant Sean Miller in December against Xavier, as well as at North Carolina State.

Donovan said not much has changed about his coaching compadre. Not even the popular “Herbivore” T-shirts around campus fazed Donovan.

“I could see it,” he said. “Herb’s always been a cult figure wherever he’s been. I could see him becoming a cult figure out here.”

They shared stories and laughs last May at a 20-year anniversary gathering of Providence’s 1987 Final Four team, and the pair of Pitino-pod products share similar squads.

Florida is the two-time national champion which lost five players in the NBA draft last spring.

The Gators started the season 18-3 with two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup, but stumbled in February and early March to finish .500 in the Southeastern Conference and miss out on March Madness.

Sound familiar, Arizona State fans?

“I’d guess there are a lot of program similarities and common ground how we go about doing things,” Sendek said.

Donovan eschewed boundless praise for Sendek and the school for hiring him.

By tipoff, however, the “family tree” fodder will be empty talk. Tonight’s winner goes to New York City for the semifinals, and this coaching friendship will have to wait.

“Herb’s played a major, major role in my life, both as a friend and as a person, and the relationship we’ve developed through basketball and also similar childhoods growing up in terms of values,” Donovan said.

“You say rekindling an old friendship. Our friendship’s been that way for a long time.”

Pitino at the point

The slick-haired Louisville coach isn’t just the only man in NCAA history to take three different schools to a Final Four (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville). He’s also the source behind tonight’s NIT coaching reunion:

Rick Pitino

Head coach Providence College 1985-1987

Head coach Kentucky 1989-1997

Billy Donovan

Point guard at Providence College 1983-1987 (Final Four 1987)

Assistant coach Kentucky 1989-1994

Herb Sendek

Graduate assistant coach under Pitino at Providence 1985-1989

Assistant coach under Pitino at Kentucky 1989-1993

Florida at ASU
What: National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals
When: 6 p.m., tonight
Where: Wells Fargo Arena
TV/Radio: ESPN/KTAR (620 AM)
Records: Florida (23-11), Arizona State (21-12)

Outlook: Florida: The schools’ lineups are near-mirror images of one another: The Gators start two freshman, two sophomores and a junior. The Sun Devils start three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year Nick Calathes (11 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) had the second triple-double in school history against Creighton on Friday. He’s the team’s leading scorer (15.6 ppg) and averaged a conference-best 6.1 assists per game. Inside, 6-foot-10 Marreese Speights is averaging 17.6 points, and 7.4 rebounds the past seven games. The starting five all average more than eight points per game, which ASU players compared to Oregon on offense.

Arizona State: Turnovers and defense are key for Arizona State. Florida loves to run and score in transition (35 forced turnovers in two NIT games), so the Sun Devils need to make shots and protect the ball to turn this into a half-court game. Gators coach Billy Donovan compared James Harden to former N.C. State star Julius Hodge. The two schools met once, a Florida win at the 1984 Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis.