Gator Country

Billy Donovan only thought he was swimming with the sharks when he was coaching basketball in the Southeastern Conference. A couple of weeks ago he found out what it’s really like to swim with the sharks when he and his son Brian got a look at Great White sharks up close and personal off the coast of South Africa.

“My son wanted to do this because he’s got such an interest in sharks so we went to South Africa and went down in the cage to see them up close,” Donovan said earlier in the week. “It’s an experience of a lifetime. We saw several of them and they’re monstrous. You can’t appreciate how big and how fast they are on television. I came away with a very healthy respect.”

Donovan said the largest of the sharks he saw was in the 15-foot range. Great Whites are known to grow to 20 feet and weigh a ton.

“These guys were plenty big enough,” Donovan said. “We didn’t get to see them right up at the bars of the cage, but they were close enough that you could really get an understanding of how strong and powerful they are.”

IS MO-MO A POSSIBILITY?: Despite reports from a Southern Cal website that Lamont “Mo-Mo” Jones (6-0, 175, Mouth of Wilson, VA Oak Hill Academy) is all but committed to Arizona, the Gators are still very much in the mix. Jones is said to be working out a visit to Gainesville in the next few days and folks in New York think he’ll be a Gator by the end of the week.

For the rest of the story on our Full Court Press basketball board, click on this link:

http://www.gatorcountry.com/swampgas/showthread.php?t=109954

About the author

Franz Beard

Franz has been writing sports for 42 years in various outposts like Gainesville, Jacksonville, Savannah, Richmond and Miami. He's been writing for Gator Country since 1999 and has served as the site's managing editor since 2004. He is also a contributing writer to Gator Country Magazine.

More Basketball | RSS