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Mark Daigneault arrived at the University of Florida 15 years ago in search of a master’s degree without any guarantees of a job while on campus. Billy Donovan, now head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was near the tail end of his legendary run in Gainesville, Fla., having led the Gators to back-to-back NCAA championships. Three of his assistants, Larry Shyatt, Rob Lanier, and Richard Pitino, departed that offseason.
Donovan backfilled those spots with experienced candidates but needed extra help within the program. One of his best friends, Providence College teammate Ryan Ford, had become close with Daigneault during their time coaching together at Holy Cross. He linked the two. Donovan essentially hired Daigneault as a low-level staffer who, per NCAA rules, wasn’t even allowed on the court during practice.
“He just started kind of as a volunteer,” Donovan said. “Just did a lot of different projects. Practice plans. Did film work with individual players. He just worked his tail off.”
That, more than anything, is the spark that delivered Daigneault – the reigning NBA Coach of the Year, the current coach of the league-best 44-10 Oklahoma City Thunder and the still relatively unknown who will step into an extra burst of spotlight this weekend as an All-Star coach – to this increasingly incredible stage. He’s already considered one of the NBA’s best head coaches a couple of weeks shy of his 40th birthday.
Daigneault likes to tell people that if you replayed his life 100 times, this outcome only happens once.
The Thunder was still in its infant Oklahoma City days back then. General manager Sam Presti had just nailed the Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden picks in three consecutive drafts. Bradley Beal was one of the next high-level prospects on Presti’s radar. So, Presti spent a bunch of time in Gainesville scouting both Beal and a Florida program that impressed him.
Oliver Winterbone, who now represents Donovan and Daigneault at Wasserman after five years in the Thunder front office, was a Florida staffer back then, intent on making the jump to the NBA. Every time Presti came to town, Winterbone set up a time to meet for coffee, a meal, or a quick conversation. Daigneault joined when he could, never dreaming of an NBA future but always curious about Presti’s perspective on leadership, culture-building, the industry or whatever else. Daigneault often took handwritten notes. The two Massachusetts natives connected.
In April 2015, Presti made the seismic choice to hire Donovan away from Florida, replacing Scott Brooks for what would be Durant’s final season with the Thunder, an earthquake shake-up in the coaching community.
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