Kentucky hires Gillispie as basketball coach

[BrAinPaiNt]

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Just for HH31


By JEFFREY McMURRAY, Associated Press Writer
April 6, 2007

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Kentucky's restless fortnight is over. The new leader of Big Blue Nation has a heart as big as Texas, and he'll need it to help restore some of the luster to college basketball's all-time winningest program.

Billy Gillispie was hired as Kentucky's sixth coach in the last 76 years on Friday, a person familiar with the search process told The Associated Press. He'll replace Tubby Smith, who spent a decade under the glare of college basketball's brightest spotlight before bolting to Minnesota two weeks ago.

Gillispie, who led Texas A&M to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 this year for the first time since 1980, will be introduced at a 12:15 p.m. EST pep rally at Memorial Coliseum followed by a 12:45 news conference, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement.

The Wildcats turned to Gillispie after another Billy -- Florida's Billy Donovan -- decided Thursday to stay with the Gators. The team also had permission to talk with Texas' Rick Barnes, who indicated he wasn't interested.

Gillispie replaces Tubby Smith, who left the Wildcats after 10 seasons to take the head coaching job in Minnesota last month, despite having four years left on his contract.

Gillispie is 100-58 in five seasons as a head coach. He spent the last three years with the Aggies, molding the longtime also-ran into a Big 12 power. Texas A&M went 27-7 this season.

His success with the Aggies made Gillispie a hot commodity. He was approached by Arkansas after Stan Heath was fired, but decided to stay with the Aggies, agreeing in principle to a new contract worth $1.75 million that would have made him among the Big 12's highest-paid coaches.

The 47-year-old Gillispie, however, never signed the deal and he didn't hesitate when Kentucky came calling. Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne gave Barnhart permission to speak to Gillispie on Thursday night, and by Friday morning the Wildcats had their sixth coach since 1931.

Gillispie served as an assistant coach to Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois before moving on to coach UTEP in 2002. He coached the Miners for two seasons, surviving a 6-24 season in 2002-03 before leading the Miners to a 24-8 record the next year.

Texas A&M lured him to College Station in 2004, and Gillispie didn't waste time turning around a program that went winless in Big 12 play the year before his arrival. Texas A&M made it to the NIT his first season and the NCAA tournament the next two.

Behind the play of senior point guard Acie Law, the Aggies spent most of the 2006-07 season ranked in the top 10. They finished 13-3 in the Big 12 this season.

Gillispie's finest moment came, ironically, on the Rupp Arena floor. He guided the Aggies to wins over Penn and Louisville in the opening rounds of this year's NCAA tournament.

The Louisville game was unique because it featured Smith's predecessor, Rick Pitino, coaching against Smith's successor, Gillispie on Kentucky's home court.

AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.

 

[Hostile]

I hope they don't sell rope where HH lives.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I hope they don't sell rope where HH lives.

Man I tell you...I can sympathize with him if he is down over this.

We lose Bill, which many wanted anyways, but the whole coaching search afterwards was exhausting on us as fans.

I also had to go through the crappy time of thinking that WVU Coach R.Rod was going to bolt for Bama only for him to say he was going to stay at WVU at the last minute. You have to realize they were reporting he was going to sign at Bama and going so far as saying the plane was ready and the PC was ready so it was hell on WVU fans but heaven when he came out for WVU.

Then WVU wins the NIT with Coach Beilein, we have the T-shirt Virgina debacle (which I don't know if that was WVUs fault or the NIT's fault but the shirts were done by a company in Connecticut).

Than bang he bolts to go to Michigan.

Now we as WVU fans are going through the same crap again. But now Bob Huggins is coming to WVU and so that is a good thing for all of us. IF the guy can lay off the sauce that is.

So...It has been a rough offseason for me.:laugh2:

 

[Yeagermeister]

Man I tell you...I can sympathize with him if he is down over this.

We lose Bill, which many wanted anyways, but the whole coaching search afterwards was exhausting on us as fans.

I also had to go through the crappy time of thinking that WVU Coach R.Rod was going to bolt for Bama only for him to say he was going to stay at WVU at the last minute. You have to realize they were reporting he was going to sign at Bama and going so far as saying the plane was ready and the PC was ready so it was hell on WVU fans but heaven when he came out for WVU.

Then WVU wins the NIT with Coach Beilein, we have the T-shirt Virgina debacle (which I don't know if that was WVUs fault or the NIT's fault but the shirts were done by a company in Connecticut).

Than bang he bolts to go to Michigan.

Now we as WVU fans are going through the same crap again. But now Bob Huggins is coming to WVU and so that is a good thing for all of us. IF the guy can lay off the sauce that is.

So...It has been a rough offseason for me.:laugh2:

Just get ready for WVU to turn in to Thug U. Those are the only players Huggings goes after.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Just get ready for WVU to turn in to Thug U. Those are the only players Huggings goes after.

At KSU he got the nationally ranked #1 recruiting class this year. I expect a few of them will follow him here.

He gets ripped for his graduation ratio but than again he gets talented players that leave early for the pros.

Although some are thugs, I think that is greatly overrated with him. One or two players are bad and he gets labeled that forever when some are just darn good aggressive players.

We will see.

I don't worry about that, what bothers me is him and the sauce. I hope he got that out of his system.

 

[The30YardSlant]

I'm very dissapointed in BCG. Not because he left, Hell it's Kentucky, and that's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I'm dissapointed because he outright lied to his own players and athletic department. My famiy personally knows Alan Cannon, A&M's assistant athletic director, and BCG informed them that he was NOT leaving no less than a week ago. Two recruits came out publically and said he told them that he wasnt leaving.

I'm sorry, but I just can't respect someone who would lie to 18 year old kids about their future. I don't like him, but at least Rick Barnes had the balls to stay loyal to Texas.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I'm very dissapointed in BCG. Not because he left, Hell it's Kentucky, and that's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I'm dissapointed because he outright lied to his own players and athletic department. My famiy personally knows Alan Cannon, A&M's assistant athletic director, and BCG informed them that he was NOT leaving no less than a week ago. Two recruits came out publically and said he told them that he wasnt leaving.

I'm sorry, but I just can't respect someone who would lie to 18 year old kids about their future. I don't like him, but at least Rick Barnes had the balls to stay loyal to Texas.

That happens all the time, sadly.

Coaches go out and recruit, tell players or others that he plans to be here and so on.

Then turn around and leave.

I don't know if they know at the time that they will be offered a job and therefore never figured it would be there for the taking or what.

But it does happen.

Sucks the worst for the players and the fans.

 

[The30YardSlant]

That happens all the time, sadly.

Coaches go out and recruit, tell players or others that he plans to be here and so on.

Then turn around and leave.

I don't know if they know at the time that they will be offered a job and therefore never figured it would be there for the taking or what.

But it does happen.

Sucks the worst for the players and the fans.

What makes me wonder the most is this: He was at a school where he could have built his own legend, been the guy everyone else would always be compared to, and had our court named after him.

Basically, he could have been the Adolph Rupp or John Wooden of Texas A&M.

Instead, he goes to a program with the most unrealistic expectations in all of sport. If they dont win a NC THIS SEASON many will want him fired. He had the luxury of building a team at A&M, now he must go to heights he's never been before in record time or get canned.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

I'm dissapointed because he outright lied to his own players and athletic department.

I'm sorry, but I just can't respect someone who would lie to 18 year old kids about their future.

Guess who just got "used"?

AIN'T KARMA A *****!!!???


​

 

[The30YardSlant]

AIN'T KARMA A *****!!!???
​

What's it like knowing that the worst coach in the history of Texas A&M football currently owns tu's new adzillatron scoreoard?

:laugh2:

 

[DallasCowpoke]

What's it like knowing that the worst coach in the history of Texas A&M football currently owns tu's new adzillatron scoreoard?

Well, not NEARLY half as depressing as it must be, knowing he's YOUR coach.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Well, not NEARLY half as depressing as it must be, knowing he's YOUR coach.

Franchione's tenure will eventually end and he will be forgotton to the pages of history

Scoreboard to a team coached by Frantastic lasts forever

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

What makes me wonder the most is this: He was at a school where he could have built his own legend, been the guy everyone else would always be compared to, and had our court named after him.

Basically, he could have been the Adolph Rupp or John Wooden of Texas A&M.

Instead, he goes to a program with the most unrealistic expectations in all of sport. If they dont win a NC THIS SEASON many will want him fired. He had the luxury of building a team at A&M, now he must go to heights he's never been before in record time or get canned.

Yes I think that is kind of silly too.

You will not get the same leadway at a school like Kentucky as you would at A&M basketball. If he continued and did well he could write his own contract and ticket into A&M history books as a legend.

The only time I see a difference is if you leave to go to your old alma mater. I have no clue if he played at KU or not.

But I can understand wanting to go back and be the HC of the school you played your college ball at.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Franchione's tenure will eventually end and he will be forgotton to the pages of history

Scoreboard to a team coached by Frantastic lasts forever

Somehow, I thinking 1 loss in what, 5 attempts, is hardly gonna leave a blip on the radar in the annals of UT history. But if y'all nut-huggers wanna hang your hats on it, more power to ya.

 

[jimmy40]

Yes I think that is kind of silly too.

You will not get the same leadway at a school like Kentucky as you would at A&M basketball. If he continued and did well he could write his own contract and ticket into A&M history books as a legend.

The only time I see a difference is if you leave to go to your old alma mater. I have no clue if he played at KU or not.

But I can understand wanting to go back and be the HC of the school you played your college ball at.

Makes perfect sense, he wanted to go to a school where half the fans aren't asking "Why do they bounce the ball"?

 

[WoodysGirl]

Chronicle's Richard Justice

April 06, 2007
Good riddance, Billy Clyde. Onward and upward, Aggies.
He was a great hire. Let's begin with that basic point. No matter how bitter you are, no matter how betrayed you feel, don't ever forget what Billy Gillispie did for Texas A&M. He left a blueprint for the lucky coach who follows him. Never again should Texas A&M take a backseat to Texas in basketball. That will be Gillispie's legacy.

Here's the other thing to know about Billy Clyde Gillispie. He was never going to stay at Texas A&M. Never. If he didn't have a legitimate reason to leave, he was going to invent one.

His monstrous ego wasn't going to be satisfied in Aggieland. He wanted more. He has been that way his entire coaching career. Ask some of the people who coached with and against him along the way. Billy Clyde never lacked ambition.

Ambition isn't a bad thing, but it can be consuming and alter one's sense of reality. Billy Clyde wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Coach K. or Roy Williams, and he's determined to get there no matter how many times he has to break his word.

His word means nothing. He's a liar in the worst sense of the word. He will come up with some reason for leaving Texas A&M, but the bottom line is he gave his word that he would stay when he probably never had any intention of staying.

Some A&M officials knew this. They expected him to take the Arkansas job. Even if he decided to stay at A&M, they knew they'd be going through this drama again next year and every year after that until he finally did leave.

Gillispie began telling friends a year ago he was dissatisfied with A&M. He believed some promises had gone unfulfilled. In the last few weeks, he told some that he wanted the Arkansas job.

The Aggies who are unhappy with him now are missing the point. Gillispie used A&M, but A&M used Gillispie, too. Now there's a roadmap for how to succeed in basketball.

Don't worry about the players or the recruits. Sure they committed to a liar. That's the wrong way to look at the thing. They committed to attending school and playing basketball for one of the country's great universities. They're Aggies now and forever. They may have wished they'd signed on with Rick Barnes, but they're going to end up all right.

Bill Byrne surely knows this was coming. He gave Gillispie virtually everything he asked for last week and still couldn't get an answer from him. He had to know that Gillispie was either having some kind of identity crisis or simply a liar.

I was convinced last week that he was going to leave, but once he issued a pretty definitive statement about the new contract, that seemed to be the end of it. Still, doubts lingered. He never said definitively that he was staying. He never signed the deal. I've heard he didn't sign his previous deal, either, but that's beside the point.

The bottom line is that this little man with the smirk and the big ego came to see himself as worthy of Kentucky but not Texas A&M. Don't sweat it, Aggie fan.

Bill Byrne will go find another first-rate coach. He'll build on what Gillispie has started. He'll have great facilities and a solid recruiting class, and he might make the A&M-Texas basketball rivalry one of the countries best.

Gillispie will attempt to find whatever he's looking for in Kentucky. He won't find it. He'll never find it. The Aggies shouldn't sweat his leaving. He's not worth it.


Posted by Richard at April 6, 2007 08:50 AM

 

[SA_Gunslinger]

so much for the a and m hoops resurgance.