After Kentucky got dropped in the N.I.T. by Notre Dame on Wednesday night, there was heavy speculation that coach Billy Gillispie would be fired. In Game Now, citing no specific sources, said he was gone on Thursday (that didn’t happen). Then late Thursday night, several sites linked to a report from WHAS that supposedly said Gillispie was fired according to multiple sources. Well, just see below how that’s turned out:
WHAS does have a TV report saying Gillispie is out as Kentucky’s coach, but I’ll wait for an official announcement to believe it. TV stations and newspapers have been wrong before, especially when they’re trying to be first in breaking news. I’ve said it before here plenty of times that I’m a big fan of Gillispie. If they make a change it will be completely ill-timed and nothing other than a reactionary move.
How can you only give a guy two years to do his thing? That’s not a fair shake. Furthermore, I do believe they have the right guy and one of the finest coaches around. They have some stars on the team, they did some good things this year. With his recruiting touch, they can be running through the SEC in no time. Have patience Kentucky, I know it’s a new word for you, but just have patience. Ben Howland was 29-28 in his first two years at UCLA. Then he went to three straight Final Fours. Gillispie can do the same thing.
