Hell of a fall for Gillispie. It wasn't just UK fans drinking the Gillispie Kool-Ad after his hire. When Kentucky brought him on board after failing to hire Donovan, I distinctly remember SI's Luke Winn writing that Kentucky had hired "the better Billy."
In UK's defense, Gillispie did seem like an outstanding up-and-coming young coach after his time at A&M. He could never get any traction at UK, and it looks like things have just fallen apart for him.
He's an absolute mess of a human being. We all know people like him. They just usually don't land multiple D1 coaching jobs. This is what would happen if they did.
He's a monster, although, I actually think his methods wouldn't have stuck out so much if he were coaching back in the 70's and 80's. Either way, he was bad for the game and worse for most players that played for him. I've been surprised how many former UK players under Billy have come forward lately and made "I told you so" types of comments.
That being said, not everyone agrees. Check out this absolute gutter-ball of an article written about Billy G just two days ago. Its titled "Billy Gillispie: Still a Winner." And they're being serious:
Billy Gillispie, was, is and always will be a winning, successful basketball coach. Nothing anyone can say or do will change that. Two things money can’t buy: class and dignity. Gillispie has both. Tech administration, from the top down, seems to be a little short in that deparment. Texas Tech—the ball is in your court. Try not to double-dribble.
Hell of a fall for Gillispie. It wasn't just UK fans drinking the Gillispie Kool-Ad after his hire. When Kentucky brought him on board after failing to hire Donovan, I distinctly remember SI's Luke Winn writing that Kentucky had hired "the better Billy."
In UK's defense, Gillispie did seem like an outstanding up-and-coming young coach after his time at A&M. He could never get any traction at UK, and it looks like things have just fallen apart for him.
Gillespie did have two fairly recent DWIs when Kentucky hired him although I think Kentucky fans kept reminding us that he was maybe only convicted for one.
Gillespie did have two fairly recent DWIs when Kentucky hired him although I think Kentucky fans kept reminding us that he was maybe only convicted for one.
Pretty sad Kentucky fans if that's the case.
We see fans everywhere do this though. I don't get it. Its like a crime is only as bad as its punishment or the classification it falls under. Player A gets arrested for something and you see fans of that school soothing themselves with the assurance that it'll get plead down to a misdemeanor - or hoping that the charges just get dropped. Does it really change anything? Well, it does with those fans for some reason. But why? Billy G was busted for drunk driving X number of times. Is it really any BETTER if he was only convicted X - 1 times? The action (you know, drinking and driving) is what we should care about.
Likewise, Duke/UNC situations getting swept under the rug shouldn't be any kind of statement either. (Had to throw this in there)
I'm not sure how closely you guys have been following Gillispie and whats gone on recently, but here are two articles that sum him up pretty well in case you're interested.
Billy Gillispie Resigns at Texas Tech
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