Thunder's Donovan shook by Pitino situation: 'It's sad in a lot of ways'

Billy Donovan is sad to see the sudden downfall of his former coach, Rick Pitino.

The Oklahoma City Thunder head coach shared his sympathy for his ex-coach and mentor after the longtime Louisville bench boss was placed on administrative leave Wednesday.

"I feel bad," Donovan told ESPN's Royce Young. "I wouldn't be standing where I am today without coach Pitino, the investment he made in my life. I think the values and things that he taught me - I haven't spoken to him. I don't know all the things that are going on there, but him being a college coach and then working for him for five years, we've always remained very close, and I feel bad for all he's dealing with and Louisville is dealing with right now."

Pitino was placed on unpaid administrate leave shortly after Louisville announced it was under federal investigation for its potential role in a fraud and corruption scheme. Pitino denied any wrongdoing.

"It's sad. It's sad in a lot of ways," Donovan said. "You feel bad for so many different people. But I think the unfortunate part is I think for a lot of the kids over the years who are being recruited and going through it, it's unfortunate that whether it's people on the recruiting side or the coaching side getting in the middle of that, because I'm not so sure what kind of message it actually sends to young people. But it's, I think for somebody that's been around college basketball for a long, long time, it's just kind of disappointing in a lot of ways."

Donovan played under Pitino at Providence, and the two helped the Friars make just their second Final Four appearance in school history. He later played for Pitino with the New York Knicks during the 1987-88 season.