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Florida's next hire may determine what it becomes without Billy Donovan

Florida's next hire may determine what it becomes without Billy Donovan

As Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley begins his search to find a replacement for Billy Donovan, this is the challenge he faces.

He must identify someone capable of proving that the school's recent emergence as a basketball juggernaut is a product of the caliber of its program and not merely the caliber of its former coach.

Though Florida made a surprise Sweet 16 appearance in 1987 under Norm Sloan and an unexpected Final Four run in 1994 under Lon Kruger, the Gators were hardly a perennial national power before Donovan. They had only made the NCAA tournament five times in program history until Donovan arrived 19 years ago and willed Florida to two national titles, four Final Fours and seven Elite Eight appearances.

What will aid Foley in his search is that he's pitching a top 20 college basketball job that should be attractive to plenty of potential candidates.

Florida has a big-budget athletic department that can afford to spare no expense on facilities, recruiting or salaries for assistant coaches. The school is also located in a state that is rich with talent, meaning the next coach can afford to build the program with mostly in-state prospects while venturing to Atlanta or elsewhere to win an occasional national recruiting battle.

The fact that Florida remains a football school despite Donovan's success is something most coaches will see as an advantage too. There will always be more pressure to win on the Gators football coach than his basketball counterpart even if Donovan has raised the bar to the point where merely making the NCAA tournament every year is no longer the benchmark for success.

Foley's history in coaching searches suggests he'll target an up-and-coming head coach from a program outside the power conferences. That's what he did when he plucked Donovan from Marshall in 1996, Urban Meyer from Utah in 2005 and current football coach Jim McElwain from Colorado State this year.

If Foley opts to go that route again, his first phone call should be to Archie Miller.

The 36-year-old Dayton coach would be a home run hire because he possesses the pedigree, demeanor and skill as a recruiter and tactician to enjoy success at a name-brand program. He led the Flyers to the Elite Eight in 2014 and arguably did an even better job this past season when they won 27 games and reached the round of 32 despite only having six healthy scholarship players and none taller than 6-foot-6.

Miller could opt to stay at Dayton and wait for an even better power-conference job to open the next few years, so Foley either needs to make him a lucrative offer he can't refuse or identify some backup plans.

Two pie-in-the-sky options are Gregg Marshall and Bruce Pearl, but the Wichita State coach probably isn't leaving after signing an extension worth more than $3 million a year and the Auburn coach is only entering his second year with the Tigers and probably isn't ready to leave. The more realistic alternatives to Miller are guys like Xavier's Chris Mack, Minnesota's Richard Pitino, Murray State's Steve Prohm and Louisiana Tech's Michael White.

Of that group, Mack is probably the most accomplished and most attractive candidate. Pitino has coached under Donovan in the past and would certainly receive Donovan's endorsement, but his two years with the Gophers haven't proven he's ready for the Florida job. Prohm and White have enjoyed  success in smaller conferences, but it's a huge leap from where they are to one of the SEC's flagship programs.

Should Foley opt to go with an assistant, he could hire Anthony Grant or John Pelphrey from Donovan's staff, though both of their middling track records as head coaches could make that an unpopular decision with the Florida fan base. Foley could also try to lure Jeff Capel from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's staff if he's undeterred by the former Oklahoma coach's checkered history of NCAA violations.

Whoever the new coach is won't step into an easy situation.

Donovan went an uncharacteristic 16-17 in his final season at Florida and leaves behind a roster riddled with question marks. Forward Dorian Finney-Smith and point guard Kasey Hill are the only two of the Gators' five leading scorers expected back next season, though a recruiting class featuring four Rivals 150 prospects should offer a boost.

Ultimately, this coaching search should offer a litmus test for what caliber of program Florida is and what caliber of program it wants to be.

A few years ago, Arizona appeared to be in jeopardy of slipping from among the nation's elite after Lute Olson's retirement until it hired Sean Miller and quickly reemerged as the West's premier program. Florida needs to find its Miller, a coach who can maintain what Donovan built and show Florida's recent success is sustainable.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!