BOSTON — Everything Dan Hurley and Connecticut are going through — the pressure, the expectations, the distractions — Billy Donovan has experienced.
He lived it nearly two decades ago as the coach at Florida, the last team to win back-to-back titles.
There’s a reason it hasn’t happened since the Gators of Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer won it all in 2006 and 2007 — it is incredibly difficult to do.
over the Bruins in 2006. They repeated the following year. Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Donovan was one of several coaches Hurley spoke to this offseason about attempting to repeat, along with Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo and Jay Wright.
His message was simple: Start over.
“The idea that they’re defending something, you have to get rid of it. Last year’s over with. They’re not giving back last year’s trophy, this is an entirely new season with a new set of challenges and circumstances. Whatever happened last year is over and done with,” the Bulls head coach told The Post in a phone interview.
“They’ll have to understand the way back up the mountain in the NCAA Tournament may be a different road than it was the previous year. Eliminate the thought about last year, and all the questions they’re going to have to deal with. They have to worry about what’s in front of them now.”
The circumstances are obviously different.
Florida had the benefit of returning all five starters.
Top-seeded Connecticut lost Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo and fellow starters Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson Jr. to the NBA.
The Huskies are a different team than the one that dominated last year’s NCAA Tournament, winning their six games by an astounding average of 21.6.
So far, though, they may be even better.
Last year’s team was a fourth seed in the tournament, and didn’t even reach the Big East Tournament title game.
This edition has lost just once at full strength and enters Thursday’s Sweet 16 meeting with No. 5 San Diego State at 33-3.
“The thing that’s so impressive about UConn to me is when you have to plug in five new players and the culture and the standards with which they’re playing at has continued with three new starters, that’s really impressive,” Donovan said. “There’s different challenges that you deal with. We had to deal with the pressure of being unranked and being ranked No. 1 [after winning a championship].
“They’re dealing with the pressure of winning it and having three new starters. It’s those circumstances to me that end up speaking to the character inside the program.”
There were enormous expectations placed on Florida in 2006-07, starting the season as preseason No. 1.
Even after wins, Donovan noticed that his guys were upset, disappointed because they didn’t win by enough points.
Greatness was expected.
He remembered his staff having to proactively work behind the scenes to keep local runners for agents and hangers-on away from his players.
That said, Donovan didn’t have to deal with Name, Image & Likeness, the transfer portal or social media.
“I used to tell our players this all the time: Do you know what the first thing that happens when you win a national championship? They put a rope up around the court. Well, no one’s allowed in, so why would you let anyone in now?” Donovan said. “The court’s going to get roped off and you’re going to be inside the ropes with your teammates if you win. So you need to keep everything outside the ropes right now.
“They need to be reminded of that on a regular basis. What is getting in the way, that you’re allowing to become a distraction. It’s all about the distractions and the focus and concentration and the details, and it’s about having a clear head. I think you have to talk about that a lot.”
Asked if he has a rooting interest in one direction or another, Donovan said he is pulling for Hurley, because of their relationship that extends several years back.
They got to know one another when Hurley was a high school coach at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark and Donovan recruited his players.
But he isn’t necessarily rooting for Connecticut to win it all or for his Florida teams to remain the last group to repeat.
He’s too close to too many coaches still alive in the NCAA Tournament.
Donovan admittedly hasn’t watched a lot of Connecticut, due to his busy schedule with the Bulls, so it would be difficult for him to compare the teams.
That said, he finds it hard to envision any college team being superior to his Gators teams.
“The one thing I’d say about our team: It was the first time in the history of the game that three players from one team got drafted in the top 10 of the NBA draft,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”