UK Coach Billy Gilispie said he wants to come back as basketball coach next season. “I love it,” he said of his job. “I love this place.”
But Gillispie could not say at a Sunday news conference if he will be Kentucky’s coach next season.
Gillispie could not confirm nor deny that UK president Lee Todd met with Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart late last week to discuss the future of the basketball program.
Earlier this spring, Barnhart noted how he hoped to meet with Gillispie after the season to talk about “adjustments” needed.
When asked if he’d been asked to change his approach or other possible alterations, Gillispie did not give a direct answer.
“You’d have to talk to somebody else about that,” he said.
Gillispie downplayed the possible distraction of his job security could have on the team as it headed for Omaha to play Creighton Monday night in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Gillispie spoke of being “really excited” about the practices leading to the game and noted a positive effect of not making the NCAA Tournament. That absence, UK’s first since 1991, matured the players “totally” and “dramatically,” the coach said.
“We’re an inexperienced group,” he said. “We just kept hoping, kept hoping, kept hoping.
“The finalization (of not making the NCAA Tournament) rally hit hard. It gave them a chance to mature dramatically.”
Gillispie spoke of the value of experience. Which led to an obvious question: What had he learned about being Kentucky coach over two seasons that could be valuable going forward.
“I haven’t reflected on that,” he said.
As for the intense speculation about his job security, Gillispie said he concentrated on continuing to work in recruiting and coaching. He saw a bright future, presumably with himself as coach.
“Next year, it’s unlimited what they could win,” he said.
13 comments ↓
BCG gotta go! he’s see’s that there is nothing wrong, he thinks he is the program I don’t know what happened from Texas A&M to now, his substitution patterns don’t make sense, a player makes a mistake ther is a good chance they will not get into the game again, most coaches will talk to them show there mistakes and get them back into the game. Now take the first Florida game without Galloway they don’t win! next game he plays 1 minute. another thing supposedly you practice good you start you cannot tell me Porter practiced 31 games better then the rest of the guards when they hired Billy Boy it sounded good somebody that lived 24/7 for basketball, recruiting wasn’t a big secret. I gave Tubby eight years and that was enough When Ky lost to Fla in SEC Tour Tubby sat on the bench whole game hand on chin elbows on lap that was it! Now Billy Boy once the season started last year I did not like him and it reflected that i did not go to SEC tourney (lucky) well I decided to go this year the only problem was that I ordered my ticket’s in Sept. I would have never gone had I known how lousy a coaching job he was going to do Don’t give me there Tubby’s players Miller, Galloway, Harroldson along with Meeks and Patterson surely he could have gotten 3 or 4 minutes out of Carter just clogging the middle. I could go on and on but there is no use, I will say one thing I spent my last penny on UK tickets shirts or whatever gas to get to games. At least he did not screw up the pep rally by showing up. I go back to King Cotton days GO BIG BLUE without billy boy!!!!
I sincerely hope that our quest for success will allow him to utilize one more year of incoming recruits and Patterson and Meeks. Come on folks, he’s still dealing with players mostly from another recruiting time. Give him at least 3 years of support, then, lets take a serious look. I say he deserves one more year from KY fans. 1…just one. Give him a shot. Give Patterson, Meeks and the team with Orton and Hood a chance to help and win. What will happen to the recruits we have secured if he does leave? Square one again? Do we want that?
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Jerry,
Give it a REST!!! Let the man just coach his team. You guys need to SUPPORT the team right now, NOT BE A DISTRACTION. A distraction and instigator is what you are. Here is a thought – how about writing something POSITIVE about the players – haven’t seen any articles like that lately. There are A LOT of us who DO SUPPORT Coach G and the players. Go find someone else to harass!
GO CATS!!!
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[...] during the SEC Tournament.Gillispie believes the future of his team is bright. “Next year, it’s unlimited what they could win.”Inexperience, according to Gillispie, was the biggest problem for his team this year. (Losing [...]
Hey, Jerry -
Why don’t you post the comment that we, the readers, have posted. Do you sift through them and weed out the ones that you don’t like???
I shutter to think Gillispie will be back next year, he refuses to change anything, he has not developed the two JUCO players and now he has recruited another. I believe his style is turning off recruits I know athe SEC ateams are hoping he stays. He had the players to win the SEC and make NCAA, his coaching denied both, what can be the difference next year, not incoming players.
Hey Jerry,
Now I am not a Billy Clyde Gillispie fan, but I do think that he should be given more than 2 years to proove that he can or cannot win here at Kentucky. It is true that BCG does not have any sort of public personna that we can call as friendly, (Such as Media friendly etc.). So, we can determine that if UK keeps BCG around, they should invest some kind of Public Relations schooling to see that BCG does not poop all over himself or on the University. His Basketball Savvy on the use of other Defenses and Offenses seems also to be in question. Does he just not know how to teach the X’s and the O’s and the schemes of these and make UK much more diverse and omni-dimensional? His substitutions are a lot to be desired, too. When you do not start the nations 2nd leading scorer in the 2nd half of a ball game that you are behind in the score, then something needs to be questioned as to why Meeks is sitting on the bench and not in the game helping us come from behind. This 2nd season of BCG has been truly BIZARRE! The next time Barnfart goes looking for a Basketball Coach, he should hire a committee that has the correct Criteria to be met to enable Barnyard to hire the Right Man for the Right Fit for the Head Coaching job at our U of K!
WE CANT GET RID OF A COACH who hasn’t been really tried fairly yet– His recruits are still forthcoming– We are still suffering at the hands of the Horrid sub-par level of talent left to us from the previous coaching regime… THE GAME HAS CHANGED- recruiting has changed- younger and deeper now for Basketball (it’s looking more and more like the College Football recruiting regimen these days- starting in 8th-9th grade, etc…) Thus, it takes LONGER to build and especially rebuild programs than in any previous decade of college hoops…. We have to think, most of these youngsters coming up now, weren’t even in their teens when Kentucky had good teams (+10 years ago)… WE MUST FACE FACTS: Tubby and his staff, failed at ‘offensive strategy’, ‘coaching the big man’ ‘developing any player talent into the next level’ AND MOST IMPORTANTLY- ‘RECRUITING UK LEVEL OF TALENT’ we enjoyed in the Pitino-Dynasty. Tubby wasted no time, destroying the resevoir of upper level talent and our recruiting quality went downhill fast over the past DECADE! Kids ready for college now, weren’t around when we were on top, and a viable, attractive option…. SOOOOO, Billy G. has his work cut-out for him…
UK and Billie G need atleast 2 more years before deciding whether BCG is right for UK or not!!! His first two seasons have been plagued by unexpected injuries, unfortunate transfers, and the residue left over from a Spiraling Downward TALENT LEVEL created solely by the former coaching staff of Tubby Smith… If you were to really study game films (especially this year! with Meeks and Patterson healthy) it becomes painfully obvious that besides those TWO players (which are at a top collegiate level) THE ENTIRE REST of the team is completely BENEATH THE PLAYING LEVEL A DIVISION ONE UNIVERSITY REQUIRES!!! Oh, Stevenson can do certain things well, but his weaknesses are pathetically beneath where a this level of competition requires (he shuffles his feet, stumbles and grumbles, and generally is just not quick enough to keep up with the pacing of the interior level of competition…how many times has he had balls go through his hands, or just simply miss the pass with his eyesight all together) Yes he can block, and he has a few offensive moves, but generally— this guy should be playing for Depaul, or NKU, or some junior college..period!!! The same can be said for every other player on the team– because Stevenson is probably the best “..of the rest” (besides Patterson and Meeks) WE HAVE NO POINT GUARD…PERIOD!!! (Our only hopes were dashed when, and I notice no Kentucky Fans bringing this TRUTH UP, when #5, our only POINT GUARD OPTION, decided NOT to return to UK this past year…) and Billy G. tried everything he could do to get that Guard to not stay home in California, but return here for this season…. OH– did we miss his presence!!! Obviously, many critics will be quick to say, THIS IS THE COACHES RESPONSIBILITY…and to a point, they are right… putting a team on the court with these stark areas of weaknesses (Porter (passing, handling the ball, quickness, general dexterity at this level of competition— HORRID– He is simply a 6th man/Shooting guard.. Ramone Harris– flashes of greatness in a few areas, but generally lacking- in offensive ability— infact, we don’t have any SCORERS- other than Meeks and Patterson period!)
YOU MAY GET CRITICAL OF GILLESPIE ON TWO AREAS!!!
Rupp would agree— “TAKING CARE OF THE BALL” (Turnovers) and not understanding the importance of “pacing” in basketball- coaches need to change this up/rock the other team off of their game plans and lengthy scoring stretches… BY CHANGING UP DEFENSES– throw a press in here or there, throw a ZONE in (I know Gillespie doesn’t agree with this philosophy— and really, RUPP didn’t either- he hated ZONES, but in his latter years, utilized Zones when he knew it would make the difference) Coach Gillespie needs to understand the importance of WINNING, and only WINNING! You do whatever it takes— These may be areas of criticism or not…. BUT LETS NOT CRUCIFY THE YOUNG COACH FOR POSSIBLY ENDURING ONE OF HIS TOUGHEsT YEARS ON THE SIDELINES…. having to put up with TWO FAIRLY GOOD PLAYERS and a bunch of WANT-A-BIES…. They really OVER-ACHIEVED THIS YEAR!!! (Just go back and watch the game films!!! Good God…anyone can see how pathetically out-matched the rest of the team was without Meeks and Patterson…. Each one had their own glaring weaknesses that, when put together, would sometimes make even Adolf Rupp ‘turn over in his grave/rotate on the spickett!!!!’)
Please don’t harrass the AD and President Lee Todd into making a tragic decision to PRE-MATURELY let this coach (and his excellent recruiting possibilities for the next two years) get away!!! We would be jumping out of the pot and into the FIRE!
With the players he has coming in.. he’ll be fine. Even without Patterson and Meeks. Orton is a whole nother world.
Mercifully, the basketball season is over. I think Billy G. should at least be given four years, but personally I would like to see Tubby come back to further cement his legacy as “the coach that destroyed the UK program”.
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