If one word describes Thunder coach Billy Donovan's feelings about his mentor, ousted Louisville coach Rick Pitino, it's "sad."

Donovan starred for Pitino at Providence and enjoys a job as one of only 30 NBA coaches, he said (via ESPN.com), in large part because of Pitino, so the wide-ranging bribery and fraud scandal engulfing college basketball and costing Pitino his job has hit close to home.

"It's sad. It's sad in a lot of ways," Donovan said.

After Donovan, who also played for Pitino briefly with the Knicks, finished his playing career, he gave Wall Street a try, but Pitino lured him back to the game he loves as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 1989. Fast forward more than 25 years later, and Donovan — who won two national titles at Florida before being hired by OKC in 2015 — can only look at today's situation with a mix of emotions.

"I feel bad," Donovan said. "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."

And from a larger perspective (and after more than two decades as a college coach), Donovan also knows the widening federal investigation into fraud and corruption in recruiting is uncovering a situation that won't be easy to fix.

"I think what you started to see over the last probably 15 years is a lot more of agents and people, sneaker companies getting involved with kids at a much, much earlier age," he said, "and it's a very difficult thing for the NCAA to police. …  I don't know what the solution is, but it's really, really challenging for a lot of different variables."