Billy Donovan’s NBA lifespan was short. Forty-four games for the Knicks back in 1987-88. And it might have been nonexistent had his college coach not also been his professional coach.

Rick Pitino turned Donovan from a 2-point per game bench player to a 20-point per night star during Providence’s surprising 1987 Final Four run that landed them in the Final Four. Then Pitino jumped from college to the pros just as Donovan was graduating. Donovan signed a rookie deal with Pitino’s Knicks months later, but was released and out of the NBA for good in March 1988.

Twenty-seven years later, though, Donovan might be back, this time as head coach of the Thunder. Florida’s long-time leading man is reportedly nearing a deal with general manager Sam Presti to step into OKC’s appealing coaching vacancy. And as the news slowly leaks, passionate Thunder fans – many of whom don’t closely follow SEC basketball – are scrambling to get a feel for their new coach and his tactical approach.

To do so, start with his relationship with Pitino, Donovan’s former coach turned coaching mentor.