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March 17, 2000 By Mike Lurie SportsLine.com Staff Writer |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Only a few minutes had passed since sophomore Gators survive Butler's upset bid on shot at buzzer Video: NCAA Tournament highlights Audio: Florida's Kenyan Weaks will never forget Mike Miller's game-winner vs. Butler NCAA Tournament schedules and resultsNotes: Kansas, DePaul as close as they come
Mike Miller's layup swished the net at the overtime buzzer, elevating Florida to sudden euphoria.
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Florida had survived a major first-round scare from Butler in the East Regional at Joel Coliseum, winning 69-68 in overtime. Miller was taking questions from reporters when the eyes of Gators coach Billy Donovan wandered to the back of the room.
He searched for the woman with the long blond hair and a Gator-orange shirt. Donovan caught her attention. Then he winked at her.
The woman was his wife.
It was a private communication designed for the two of them to understand, one usually just the two of them detect.
That wink said everything. It was an exclamation point to the calm Donovan showed along the Florida bench throughout the game, even through the three or four moments 12th-seeded Butler seemed to have the upset nailed down.
"That's kind of a tradition we have together. Sometimes it happens in the stands before games," Christine Donovan told SportsLine. "We just like to catch eyes and say good luck."
Luck isn't what allowed Florida to survive against Butler. Sheer will and persistence did the trick.
Christine Donovan was shaking her head over it all. For all the joy the Gators sensed -- "I've never been in a locker room where the emotion level has been like it was," Billy Donovan said -- the feeling of tragedy around Butler was pervasive.
It was news to Christine Donovan that Butler guard LaVall Jordan had already suffered through something far worse a few days ago than the two foul shots he missed with 8 seconds left in overtime as Butler led by one, 68-67.
It was news to her that Jordan's great aunt, Jetha Jeffers, died Sunday night.
Jeffers, 87, essentially raised Jordan.
"She was like my mother," said Jordan, a junior. "Worst week of my life."
As the wife of a basketball coach, these are the days and the games that tug at your soul.
Christine and Billy Donovan are both from Long Island. Both attended Providence College, where Billy was the guard who led Rick Pitino's team to a Final Four in 1987.
But the two did not meet until they attended a wedding of a basketball acquaintance from Donovan's one year in the NBA with the New York Knicks.
Eleven years and three kids later, Donovan is the 34-year-old wunderkind coach at Florida.
Christine agonized with the rest of the program earlier this year when guard Teddy Dupay -- like Jordan -- missed two late free throws in a double-overtime loss at home to Tennessee in January.
"It's great to come out of this with a win," she said. "We have lost a lot of close games."
Like the loss last year to Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, off a tip-in with 4.4 seconds left. Like the two losses this year to Tennessee, both of which went to overtime.
Christine Donovan sat around midcourt during the Butler game, roughly 15 rows high.
She was surrounded by Florida fans who had no chance matching the noise of Butler's vocal group from Indianapolis and the rest of an arena rooting for an upset.
"It was like Chinese water torture," she said.
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| Butler's Scott Robisch covers his face after the heartbreaking loss.(AP) |
When Butler senior Andrew Graves hit a fading 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in overtime, he beat a near-perfect defense to give the Bulldogs a 68-65 lead. The torture continued for Florida.
"When that guy made that shot, I thought, 'Oh, boy, it's not going to be our game,' " she said.
Her suspicion seemed to hold when Jordan went to the foul line with those eight long seconds left, looking to add to a one-point lead.
Sink at least one of them, and that Miller layup only forces another overtime. Sink at least one of them, and Butler does not leave Winston-Salem feeling devastated.
Jordan's missed foul shots afforded Miller the opportunity to win the game, penetrating through the lane before his layup.
Ball off the fingers ... horn sounds ... ball goes in ... teammates clear the bench to maul their hero, while the victims writhe on the floor.
No matter how often the scene is repeated in an NCAA Tournament, it is poignant.
Miller wound up on the bottom of a pile after he took the shot.
"After the team explained to me what happened after the game, I found out it went in," Miller said. "That's always good."
Jordan, who finished with seven points, also had an open look when Butler played for the winning shot in regulation. His shot was on.
It lipped out. "I guess it wasn't my day to be a hero," he said.
His angst will remain every bit as profound as the Donovans' joy.
"It's a tough one," Jordan said, "a tough one to swallow. I get another shot at this at least. I can come back next year and maybe have another run."
He thought of his great aunt. "She won't be back, though," Jordan said.
The personal stakes in these games hit Christine Donovan squarely in her heart.
"I feel so badly for the other team. You know, I know somebody has to lose," she said.
Joy along one hallway. Pain along another.
One of the messages Butler coach Barry Collier had for his players was that things happen for a reason. Whatever that reason might be is beyond Jordan.
"I don't know right now," Jordan said. "I hope I come to find out soon. Because it'd better be a good one."
Christine Donovan probably couldn't provide him with an answer, either. And she has not recently suffered the loss of a loved one.
Nonetheless, she has a pretty good idea of how Jordan and the rest of the entourage around Butler's basketball team are feeling this weekend.