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Gillespie Gone

Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Billy Donovan has already accepted the job too apparently.
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Well we have to be realistic, Pitino nor Tubby are coming back, so it will have to be one of our 3rd or 4th choices.
 
Billy Donovan is a basketball-coaching-flirt. I'd be surprised if he takes it, though there will always be rumours.
 
There's a bunch of other jobs hanging on what happens with the Kentucky job unfortunately. Alabama chasing after VCU's Anthony Grant for example.
 
I am actually surprised it happened this season. It's no secret that I think Gillispie was a poor choice (to be generous), but dumping him after two seasons will make it hard to get a decent replacement. Whoever comes in knows he has no time to recruit, no time to develop a program - he has to lead the Wildcat Faithful back to the Promised Land immediately or hit the road himself.

Rick Pitino's not leaving Louisville. I don't think Billy Donovan can be lured away from Florida yet. There's not enough money anywhere outside the stimulus package to get Tubby back to Lexington. Travis Ford is unproven, and just starting to find his groove at Okie State. Finally, the guy they should have offered the job in the first place (Darrin Horn, late of Western Kentucky) is just completing his first season with the Gamecocks. Unless I have greatly misjudged his character, he's not going to bail on his commitment to South Carolina despite the temptation of Big Blue.

There just aren't that many top-notch coaches out there, and not many who would want the hot seat in Lexington in this circumstance. If Gillispie had a juicy NCAA violation story breaking, or if they had given him a couple more seasons to prove himself with his own recruits and he'd failed to make the grade, it would have been different. UK is not going to be able to attract the coach they need without an unbelievable stroke of luck; I think Kentucky is making its second Billy Gillispie mistake.
 
Originally posted by: ballmode
Tubby should have never been let go
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Tubby wasn't let go, he left on his own.

Originally posted by: Turin39789
Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Billy Donovan has already accepted the job too apparently.
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Local news wkyt.com just reported Donovan was approached and has stated he is not interested.
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It was never said if Donovan was actually approached by UK, Donovan simply released a statement saying he was committed to Florida before things got out of hand like they did 2 years ago.

Originally posted by: CallMeJoe
Rick Pitino's not leaving Louisville. I don't think Billy Donovan can be lured away from Florida yet. There's not enough money anywhere outside the stimulus package to get Tubby back to Lexington. Travis Ford is unproven, and just starting to find his groove at Okie State. Finally, the guy they should have offered the job in the first place (Darrin Horn, late of Western Kentucky) is just completing his first season with the Gamecocks. Unless I have greatly misjudged his character, he's not going to bail on his commitment to South Carolina despite the temptation of Big Blue.
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Some UK faithful think Pitino would actually come back to UK, but I agree with you, if he goes anywhere it'll be elsewhere. I don't see any chance of Donovan wanting to come here, simply because Florida seems to be a great fit for him, he can recruit down there, and he makes plenty of money.

Calipari seems to be the consensus pick amongst fans, but his only motivations of leaving Memphis is just a tad more money and a bigger challenge. When you can bring in the top 3 Rivals recruits to Memphis (well, Wall hasn't said either way yet, but he sounds very probable to Memphis), haven't lost a conference game in over 3 years, and are guaranteed a #1 or #2 seed every year, do you really want to go anywhere? Calipari said it best himself a couple of years ago when he said the easiest way to get through the tournament was to get a high seed.

As for Darrin Horn, trust me, nobody in the fan base has even mentioned this guys name. Don't worry, we're not going to take him from your precious Cocks.

I personally like Miller from Xavier. But when it comes down to it, our AD and university president know how important this hire is. This next coach will either bring us back into the top 25 and national contention, or we'll be mired in mediocrity for quite some time. Either way, it'll take a couple of decades of very horrible basketball for this fanbase to quiet down.

As for Gillispie's removal, I think it was for the best. He's a good coach (with questionable tactics) and a great recruiter. But his interpersonal skills left a lot to be desired, and was ultimately the reason he was let go. There are also a ton of reports of piss-poor player/coach relationships and some decidedly questionable acts towards the players themselves. One report is that our star freshman, Darius Miller, bumped his head on the floor and got a concussion while diving for a loose ball during practice, and Gillispie told him to quit being so soft. The rumor is that because of this he even forbid Miller of traveling with the team to the SEC tourney a couple of weeks ago, and once the AD found otu about it, he flew Miller down to Tampa in a private jet so he could be with the team. This story has been corroborated by a few people within the UK athletics circle.

So it really was more about wins and losses in this case.
 
I've seen Travis Ford widely mentioned on Cat's Pause and Wildcat Nation along with Rick Barnes and Mike Anderson; Darrin Horn is discussed on both boards as well, though not as frequently as the above. I've even seen Steve Lavin, Pat Riley and Bob Knight suggested!

I agree on the improbability of coach Calipari leaving Memphis. It's unlikely UK will offer Barnes significantly more than Texas is already paying him. Mike Anderson is more in play, especially now that Alabama has filled its coaching slot; Missouri is trying hard to get him locked down before anyone else has a real chance to catch his ear.

FWIW, you're far from the only one to mention Miller. The problem is that most Wildcat fans want someone who's already running a successful top-tier program.
 
Originally posted by: CallMeJoe
FWIW, you're far from the only one to mention Miller. The problem is that most Wildcat fans want someone who's already running a successful top-tier program.
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Ya, but you're reading Catspause and Wildcat Nation, those idiots don't know their asshole from their elbow. I read Catspause all the time, but it's a teeth-grinding experience. It's that single site that gives UK fans a bad name, especially when big media outlets like ESPN quote people from there. It happened two years ago, I'm surprised I haven't seen it again so far.

Personally, I don't think we're going to be able to get a top-tier coach. I don't think we'll have to settle, either, we're just going to have to find a coach who can successfully leverage what little stature UK has left AND can coach.

Maybe UK has had it's day in the sun. I hope not.
 
Originally posted by: peritusONE
Originally posted by: CallMeJoe
FWIW, you're far from the only one to mention Miller. The problem is that most Wildcat fans want someone who's already running a successful top-tier program.
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Ya, but you're reading Catspause and Wildcat Nation, those idiots don't know their asshole from their elbow. I read Catspause all the time, but it's a teeth-grinding experience. It's that single site that gives UK fans a bad name, especially when big media outlets like ESPN quote people from there. It happened two years ago, I'm surprised I haven't seen it again so far.

Personally, I don't think we're going to be able to get a top-tier coach. I don't think we'll have to settle, either, we're just going to have to find a coach who can successfully leverage what little stature UK has left AND can coach.

Maybe UK has had it's day in the sun. I hope not.
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As a UL Cards fan, I hope not as well. But UK fans are freaking brutal.
 
Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
so who are they looking at getting?
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Nobody knows at this point. If you read around UK message boards, everybody and their mother have been mentioned. As far as I know, Donovan was never actually contacted by UK, he just said no before they could (and most likely would've).

- Donovan already said he was committed to Florida.
- Calipari said yesterday that he "wanted to be here" in reference to Memphis. He didn't outright say no when asked directly about the vacant UK job.
- Wright of Villanova already said he wasn't interested in leaving, even though he just reached the Final Four a little while ago.
- Izzo of Michigan State left the door open, but also said there was much more he wanted to accomplish at MSU.
- Miller of Xavier has been rumored to be interested in other open jobs, but only mention of his name and Arizona or Virginia, not UK (but to be fair, this was reported right around the time UK's job opened up).
- Barnes of Texas, Matta of Ohio State, the guy from Oklahoma (can't remember his name) have all been mentioned, but I don't know where they stand. Rumor is that Barnes told us no 2 years ago, but I don't think that was ever confirmed.
- Pitino's name has come up, but I cannot see any possible reason he'd want to come back to UK.
- Travis Ford of Oklahoma St is an obvious name being brought up, but I don't think he has much of a chance. Sure, he played at KY in the 90's, but I don't think his resume puts him high on the list. I'm guessing that if Ford ends up hired, that means we couldn't get quite a few other coaches to come here.
- John Pelphrey of Arkansas is another name because he's considered an up-and-comer and he played for UK back in the 90's, but I'm not sure about him either.

Some speculate that UK has already had the coaching search in the works for a couple of weeks now, since Gillispie's firing was heavily rumored about 2 weeks ago. I wouldn't doubt if they've already been working on it. Some also make a good point in that they possibly waited until they had an understanding with another coach before giving the Gillispie the boot.

I guess us UK fans will find out in the next couple of weeks.
 
Only a legend like John Wooden will satisfy the arrogant UK basketball fans who think they are God's gift to college basketball. So what if he's almost 100.
 
Originally posted by: CallMeJoe
Originally posted by: peritusONE
...the guy from Oklahoma (can't remember his name)...
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Jeff Capel?

Wildcats looking to a Dukie for salvation?

BLASPHEMY!!!

😉
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Haha. Some people at Catspause have been throwing Coach K's name around (more of a "what if" instead of actually thinking it'd ever happen). I laughed the hardest when someone said they'd eat shared glass if Coach K ever stepped foot in our state. :laugh:
 
Originally posted by: peritusONE
Haha. Some people at Catspause have been throwing Coach K's name around (more of a "what if" instead of actually thinking it'd ever happen). I laughed the hardest when someone said they'd eat shared glass if Coach K ever stepped foot in our state. :laugh:
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Coach K in Lexington; Wouldn't that be a sign of the End of Days?
 
Thanks for the link, peritus. I already knew Gillispie was a jerk, and I made no secret of my opinion of his coaching skills, but I don't follow the 'Cats closely enough to have heard all these issues.

I read a few of the comments after the blog; Wildcat faithful still convinced Billy Donovan is in the bag, expecting Geno Auriemma to leave the dynasty he's built at UConn...
 
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