Behemoth Droppings

It’s official. John Calipari is the next basketball coach of The University of Kentucky. Yeah, it’s time for UK to return to the cream of the crop. Just think, Cal was able to recruit some of the best players in the nation to Memphis…MEMPHIS?!? Imagine what he’ll be able to do with UK’s name and resources behind him.

So just how long will it take for him to restore greatness? Well, if a couple of his top recruits follow him to UK (which is a big possibility), I think they could go from NIT to Elite Eight (possibly Final Four?) in one year. Think about it if they follow him to UK…DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Patrick Patterson, Jodie Meeks, and whoever else you want to throw in there would be your starting five. That’s would be quite the lineup. Plus you would have Daniel Orton to come off the bench with Perry Stevenson to give Patterson and Cousins rest. Man, they could seriously be a dangerous team. And what if Xavier Henry decided to follow as well? WOW!!!

I think everybody in the country saw this one coming. Billy Clyde Gillispie has been fired from his position as the head coach of Kentucky Basketball. It wasn’t all about winning and losing, though. A lot of it had to do with the way he treated the players, the media, and just the way he carried himself. I think Mitch Barnhart said it pretty well:

Unfortunately there are times when a situation and the people involved do not create the right chemistry or right fit. It is our belief that is where we are and where we find ourselves with Kentucky basketball today. For that reason, we decided to not bring Coach Gillispie back to lead our men’s basketball program.

The next question is how much, if anything, does UK owe Gillispie. After all, he never signed a contract. He did have a memorandum of understanding, which is a legally binding contract in itself. Because of that, many people believe that he will be paid the 1.5 million dollars per year for the remainder of his “contract”. The big catch is the next to last paragraph of the memorandum. I think this will keep UK from having to pay him that 1.5 million per year:

While these terms are contingent upon our executing an employment contract, and are subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of the University of Kentucky Athletic Association and if necessary the Board of Trustees of the University of Kentucky, I trust that every reasonable effort will be made to mutually conclude that process within 60 calendar days of your start date.

Obviously the contract was never signed, so what does that mean? It’ll be interesting to see how the courts will interpret this statement (and yes, you can be sure that they will interpret it). You can read the whole memorandum here. My guess is this will drag out in courts for quite a while.

Then the next question is, “Who will be the next coach?”. Billy Donovan has supposedly already withdrew his name from the field. While I really, really hope that the prodigal son returns home (Rick Pitino), I don’t think he will. I’ve heard Izzo and Calipari, I don’t see either one of them at the helm either. I think the next coach will probably be Travis Ford.

Ah, the drama…

Well greetings from Layton, Utah. Just about 20 minutes north of Salt Lake City. I’m out here for work for 5 days, and I must say it is much nicer than I anticipated. Our hotel is in the middle of EVERYTHING. We have a mall, theater, Barnes and Noble, Target, Office Depot, and so many places to eat you couldn’t even imagine…all within walking distance of our hotel. Oh, and that picture is from my cell phone standing in front of the hotel. Now, if work just doesn’t get in the way…

PS..clicking on pic will show larger one.

So my pastor told a joke this morning that cracked me up. Thought I’d pass it along. It’s just too good not to re-tell. Here is what he said:

I just found out that the UK Wildcats are Catholic. Yep, it’s true. This year they gave up basketball for lent

And as he said, if I didn’t laugh…I’d cry!!

I want to preface this post by saying that I truly believed that Billy G. was the right coach when he was hired, and thought that he would save UK.

With that said…it truly is sad times for UK basketball. Unless by some miracle we win the SEC tournament, the 17 year streak of going to the NCAA tournament will be broken. We just got drubbed by Georgia (supposedly the worst team in the SEC by far) at home on SENIOR NIGHT!! And to make matters worse the coach won’t accept any responsibility for the situation and instead just blames the players for everything.

There is enough talent on this team to make them dangerous, and I’m not just referring to Meeks and Patterson. Darius Miller should be challenging those two every night for the most points by a UK player. Kevin Galloway should be running the point (as he has shown he can do quite effectively). And what about Harrison? He’s a good player too!!

It really is sad. Everyone knows that Billy G. can recruit. He’s going to have better quality players than Tubby ever did at Kentucky (excluding Pitino’s team). But if he can’t even get to the NCAA tournament in a year that UK’s schedule is weaker than I have ever seen it, then bringing in a little more talent isn’t going to make a difference. Heck, he probably wouldn’t even play half of them!!

I know it’s only been two seasons, but Billy G. just doesn’t seem to be up to the job. I want to give him another year, but if Meeks and Patterson head to the NBA as well as a few other players transferring (there have been rumors)…then next year is going to be even worse. Hey, he doesn’t have a contract (still?!?) so the college wouldn’t owe him any money…right

Is it football season yet?