For the last 15 months, Billy Donovan was the most respected man in Florida basketball. Now, with an abrupt about-face, he’s become the most contentious.

Donovan led the University of Florida Gators to consecutive NCAA men’s basketball titles this spring and last. He politely rejected an overture from the University of Kentucky, its Southeastern Conference rival, and he looked poised to settle in long-term in Gainesville, Fla. That comfortable vision went topsy-turvy last week when Donovan first accepted a five year, $27.5 million offer to coach the Orlando Magic. Then Sunday night he announced that he had second thoughts and would like to return to the college ranks.

This scenario would be messy enough since it tarnishes Donovan’s golden boy reputation, and it throws a wrench into what figures to be a busy and pivotal off-season for the Magic. In addition, Donovan didn’t have his change of heart merely after announcing his intentions to shift from the college to professional ranks; instead, he changed his mind after actually inking the contract. So this separation will likely involve teams of lawyers and probably a hefty termination fee.

Of course, the Gators will probably be happy to pay the fine for him and welcome Donovan back with open arms. He returns to a good recruiting class, and expectations will be low since the title team lost its core players, center Joakim Noah, forward Al Horford, and guard Corey Brewer to the NBA draft.

My big question is why Donovan ever went through this quandary in the first place; college coaches have a horrific track record when moving to the pros directly from head jobs in the NCAA. Local fans probably recall the foibles of Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Mike Montgomery, and Tim Floyd; all recent examples of a long and abysmal track record of NCAA head men moving directly to the pros. (NCAA assistant coaches who apprentice for a bit as an NBA assistant such as Jeff Van Gundy and Lawrence Frank have had more success.)

There are many reasons why it’s hard for successful college coaches to maintain their track record in the NBA. The biggest one is degree of authority. A college coach unequivocally holds the reins on playing time, so players are apt to buy into the coach’s program without much fuss. In the pros, a coach has much less sway over a young adult who is already making big money. Also, collegiate coaches can cycle players in and out of their roster as they like and no player will be in the system for more than four seasons; by contrast, in the pros, with guaranteed contracts, the roster is pretty much fixed, like it or not.

Unless Donovan has another change of heart (and who knew that hoops coaches had such a strong inner teenage girl trying on shoes at the mall) then he’s heading back to Gainesville, and Orlando is back at square one. But Orlando’s regime shouldn’t fret. The Magic have the prime job opening in the NBA this summer. The team has a budding superstar in Dwight Howard, a good young point guard in Jameer Nelson, cap room to pursue potential free agents such as the Nets’ Vince Carter and some good peripheral players like center Darko Milicic and forward Hedo Turkoglu. They made the postseason this spring, and it will take a catastrophic injury for them to miss the playoffs next season. Stan Van Gundy turned a bad situation into a franchise headed for an NBA championship. It’s probably only a matter of days before the Magic host another press conference, and Van Gundy tells a few jokes about making decisions and sticking to them.

The Magic’s unsettled situation obscured other coaching hires. In the early going, Memphis, Charlotte, and Houston look like solid winners while Indiana appears to be an interesting gamble. The Grizzlies hired former Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni, a coach who is well suited for the uptempo, athletic style they are looking to implement. The Grizzlies’ miserable 22–60 record owed some to an offseason injury that sidelined center Pau Gasol. With a good draft, the team is in position to improve quickly. In Charlotte, former Bulls assistant Sam Vincent takes over a job that will involve a lot of rebuilding and the glare of Michael Jordan looking over his shoulder. However, Vincent takes over a team that has won 18, 26, and 33 games in its existence. There isn’t a lot of talent here, but Vincent should have a two-to-three year window to make the team competitive. As a former teammate of Jordan, he should be able to buy a window that big. Houston’s hire of Rick Adelman was no surprise after Jeff Van Gundy and the new regime got on the wrong wavelength. Adelman’s record in Sacramento and Portland is strong and he inherits a very good team that figures to get better quickly.

At first glance, Indiana’s hiring of Jim O’Brien struck me of cronyism, but further examination suggests that he is more than a stuffed shirt. His teams in Boston and even his one in Philadelphia played at or above their expected won-loss record based on point differential. He will inherent a difficult situation in Indiana. The team is capped out, the roster is a hash of mismatched pieces, and the best player is likely to be traded. Then again, it’s the perfect situation for a coach who has presided over the gradual declines of the Celtics and Sixers. O’Brien knows how to manage a soft landing.

mjohnson@nysun.com