On Friday, April 6, 2007 the University of Kentucky named Billy Gillispie the 21st head coach in UK
basketball history.
Gillispie agreed to a seven-year contract with the financial terms of the deal to be released at a later
date.
“Billy Gillispie has all the qualities we were looking for in Kentucky’s next head coach,” said University
of Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart. “He is a tireless worker, a
great recruiter and is passionate about winning and winning the right way. He will make the
Commonwealth proud both as a coach and a person.”
“As a lifelong University of Kentucky fan, I am excited what Billy Gillispie will bring to this program – an
unmatched work ethic and exciting style of play,” said UK President Lee
T. Todd, Jr. “We all understand Kentucky fans expect to win, but I'm confident we have a coach who
also shares Mitch Barnhart and my philosophy of winning the right way –
with a clean program run with integrity.”
In just three seasons at Texas A&M, the three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year engineered one of the
most amazing turnarounds in college basketball history, leading ESPN’s
Steve Lavin, among others, to christen him a “miracle worker.”
In the 2006-07 season, Gillispie, who was a finalist for the 2007 Naismith National Coach of the Year
and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, led the Aggies to a school
record 27-7 record which included a school best No. 3 seed in the NCAA’s, in which they advanced to
the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1980.
In addition to leading the Aggies to a final No. 9 ranking in 2007, he led A&M to a top 10 ranking in
both polls for 11 straight weeks. Before the 2007 season, the last time A&M
was ranked in the top 10 in either poll was Jan. 3, 1979, when the Aggies were ranked 10th by the AP.
The only other time A&M was ranked in the top 10 was a four-week run
in the AP poll in 1959-60. That team was ranked No. 8 one week and 10th the following three weeks.
the take over
bio
Billy GillispieAge: 47
Hometown: Born in Abilene, grew up in Graford, Texas.
Career record: 100-58 in five seasons as a college head coach (two years at University of Texas-El
Paso, three years at Texas A&M).
2006-07: Led Texas A&M to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, where the Aggies lost to Memphis,
65-64.
Reputation: Gillispie arrives with the work-around-the-clock mentality that the Kentucky job demands.
Mentored by current Kansas Coach Bill Self,
Gillispie is known as a tireless recruiter, a game-film guru and a tough-as-nails practice coach. His
relative inexperience could be viewed as a
negative (lacking in big-game know-how?) or a positve (hungry to reach the pinnacle?).
Billy Clyde took unlikely road to Rupp
on the eve of his 48th birthday, Billy Clyde Gillispie of Graford, Texas, will coach the Kentucky Wildcats
tonight in Rupp Arena for the first time in an official game.
Before the madding fury that is a UK basketball season reaches full boil, let's ruminate just a moment
on the improbability of the above statement. If you're not careful,
you might find some old-fashioned life inspiration.
In the cutthroat profession that is big-time college basketball coaching, few have ever risen to the level
of head coach, Kentucky, from farther out of the hoops
mainstream than where Gillispie started.
When Cedric Jenkins hit the last-second tip-in in 1987 to give No. 1-ranked Kentucky a one-point
escape against Louisville, a Copperas Cove, Texas, high school
athletics director, chap named Hal Mumme, had that year hired a new basketball coach.
That's how Billy Gillispie became a head coach.
In 1992, when Rick Pitino, Jamal Mashburn and The Unforgettables were composing a masterpiece
opposite the Great Satan (well, Christian Laettner and Duke), Billy
Gillispie was the head coach of the Ellison High School Eagles in Killeen, Texas.
By 1994, when Pitino and UK were staging the comeback for the ages from 31 down in the second half
to beat LSU, Gillispie had at last broken into college coaching.
As an assistant at South Plains Community College (in Levelland, Texas).
In 1996, when Pitino gave Kentucky its sixth NCAA title, Gillispie had finally cracked Division I coaching.
As an assistant at that noted basketball power, Baylor.
In 2002-03, when Tubby Smith led Kentucky to 26 wins in a row and swept every meaningful national
coach-of-the-year award, Billy Gillispie had finally fulfilled the
dream of becoming a major college head man.
He was going 6-24 as the first-year coach at Texas-El Paso.
Five seasons later, Gillispie is head coach at Kentucky.
Traditionally, the path to filling the head coach's seat at the winningest college basketball program of
all time has been through the hoops equivalent of aristocratic
blood.
Adolph Rupp played for Hall of Famer Phog Allen at Kansas. Joe B. Hall began his college career
playing for Rupp. Eddie Sutton played for basketball titan Henry Iba.
Rick Pitino did not play for a coaching demigod, but his coaching career was launched by the coaching
factory that was legendary basketball guru Howard Garfinkel's
Five-Star Camps. Tubby Smith advanced from lifelong assistant through his midcareer connection to
the Pitino coaching tree.
Billy Gillispie played his college basketball at Ranger Community College.
His entree to college coaching came when his dad called on a connection and got Gillispie a job as
team manager.
For Coach Bob Derryberry.
At Sam Houston State.
From that start, Billy Gillispie is head coach at Kentucky.
Many who reach the elite levels of college basketball coaching are identified early on as prodigies.
Bob Knight was a college head man (Army) at age 24. Rick Pitino coached his first game (Boston
University) at 26. People were calling Mike Krzyzewski head coach
(Army) at 28. They were addressing Billy Donovan the same way (Marshall) at 29.
Billy Gillispie was 42 when UTEP made him a college head coach.
At age 47, he was in The House That Rupp Built (Memorial Coliseum), being introduced as head man
at UK.
Of course, to thrive at Kentucky, Gillispie will have to meet some of the most exacting standards in all
of sports.
A Kentucky basketball coach is expected to consistently sign more than his share of the nation's best
high school players (roughly half the state will expect him to do this
without cheating; the other half will be OK if he can do that without getting caught cheating).
He must dominate the SEC. He is expected to win far more than his share of the annual bloodlettings
with North Carolina, Indiana and Louisville.
Consistent appearances in the Final Four are a must. Winning the national championship is expected
at least once (and, if a coach wants an extended stay in
Lexington, winning two is the safer route).
For a Kentucky coach A.P. (After Pitino), it also helps if you are a sharp dresser and a glib public
personality who can entertain the masses.
Still, however the Gillispie journey ends, at the start it's easy to feel good about the story of a guy who,
in 14 years, went from Texas high school coach to the occupier of
the seat that Adolph Rupp made great.
coach G