ESPN IGNORING REPORTER’S DONOVAN-TO-HEAT CLAIM?: While Kentucky fans continue their attempt to ruin Florida’s Final Four focus rumors of Billy Donovan’s imminent departure to Kentucky continue to percolate, Tom Friend of ESPN The Magazine announced on Jim Rome’s ESPN-TV show “Rome is Burning” yesterday that Donovan “is going to leave (Florida) and replace” Pat Riley as coach of the Miami Heat.

What’s equally intriguing is that an ESPN reporter on an ESPN network show claims the biggest basketball scoop of the season, yet the report is apparently being ignored by ESPN’s news operation.