ATLANTA - Among the homemade signs spotted in Florida’s rooting section amid Monday’s celebration, two stood out.

"Come Back as Seniors," read one.

"Coach Billy Stay," read another.

While the first request isn’t likely to be fulfilled, not with NBA scouts panting for several of the Gators’ junior stars, the latter is a much safer bet.

Yes, Billy Donovan has been curiously coy about his intentions whenever the Kentucky coaching vacancy has been raised in the media. However, no one should interpret that as a sign he’s about to jump ship.

That’s merely life in the post-Nick Saban era, where coaches might no longer deny interest in jobs if there’s any chance they might later change their minds.

Donovan isn’t going anywhere.

Not after he has invested the past 11 years in building Gators basketball from a sporadic enterprise into the sport’s first repeat champion in a decade and a half.

Not when his wife and four young children are, by all accounts, happy and comfortable living in Gainesville.

Not when the Gators’ top-notch athletic department has the resources to match any offer the Kentucky bluebloods can slide across the table, even if that number climbs toward $3 million in annual salary, as reported.

And especially not when you consider the close relationship Donovan has with his direct boss, Gators Athletic Director Jeremy Foley.

As Monday turned into Tuesday, those two found each other for a congratulatory hug.

Removing Foley from the equation is about the only way Kentucky would have any shot at stealing Donovan, and even then it wouldn’t be much of one.

"You’ve got to remember, he’s got tremendous allegiance to Jeremy Foley," Bill Donovan, the coach’s father, said during the on-court celebration.

It’s easy to forget now, but plucking a 30-year-old coach with just two years’ experience running his own program - at Marshall, no less - took guts.

Donovan, now 41, took the Gators to a national runner-up finish in his fourth year, but then came a series of NCAA setbacks. There were second-round losses to Temple and Michigan State, first-round losses to Creighton and Manhattan, and suddenly the bloom was off the rose.

"He couldn’t coach then. He didn’t know what he was doing," the elder Donovan said, referring to growing media criticism. "And when things weren’t going so well, who stuck by him? Jeremy. He was in his corner, patting him on the back. ‘Stay in there. Hang in there. Keep at it.’ You can’t replace that kind of thing."

Think about it. Who would Donovan rather work for?

The guy who hired him and stuck by him when everybody thought he was overmatched? Or Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart, who just ran off Donovan’s good friend and fellow Rick Pitino disciple, Tubby Smith?

"There’s a real trust and loyalty for what Jeremy has done for Billy," Bill Donovan said. "I always judge people by what happens in bad times. Everyone is on your side in good times. Jeremy was there when it was tough."

Late Monday night it was clear. Billy the Kid is exactly where he belongs.

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