Former Boston College basketball star Bill Donovan, the father of Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan, has died. He was 85.
Bill died Saturday in Gainesville, Florida, according to his online obituary shared by Williams-Thomas Funeral Home. No cause of death or further details were provided.
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Born Oct. 26, 1940, in Queens, New York, Donovan played college basketball at Boston College, where he was a three-year starter for the Eagles and served as team captain during his senior season. He was the Eagles’ third all-time leading scorer with 1,012 career points when he graduated from BC in 1962.
After college, Donovan entered the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant and received an honorable discharge as a First Lieutenant, according to his obituary.
Donovan later became a fixture at the University of Florida, where Billy won two national championships as head coach from 1996-2015. He was often on the Gators’ bench courtside and traveled to road games, according to The Gainesville Sun.
Donovan was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
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“They didn’t come any better than Billy Donovan Sr.,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino wrote in a post to X. “A Special Man in every sense of the word. RIP my friend! You’re already in heaven.”
Donovan is survived by his wife, Joan, and their three children, Billy, Susan and Karen.
Read the original article on cleveland.com.
