TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gators' Donovan Denies Interest In Kentucky Hoops Job

Tribune file photo by JOSEPH BROWN III

Billy Donovan let his voice be heard quickly about staying in Gainesville rather than considering Kentucky.

ADVERTISEMENT

By WILL GRAVES

The Associated Press

Published: March 27, 2009

Updated:

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky deserves a coach who understands "this is not just another coaching job," and so Billy Gillispie was fired after just two years on the job.

University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart said during a news conference Friday that there were times when there was not the right chemistry or the right fit with Gillispie at the helm.

Gillispie went 40-27 in two seasons with the Wildcats. Kentucky went 22-14 this season, tied for the second-most losses in the program's 106-year history, and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.

It seems it won't be Florida coach Billy Donovan who replaces him, despite published rumors on Friday that UK and the Gators head coach were working on a deal.

"In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible," he said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. "I am committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here."

Barnhart said the university did not plan to pay Gillispie a $6 million buyout that was to be part of his never completed seven-year deal.

Gillispie never signed the long-term contract, and Barnhart said the school would abide by the memorandum of understanding, which he considered a year-to-year contract. Gillispie made $2.3 million annually.

University president Lee T. Todd Jr. also emphasized the philosophical differences between the school and Gillispie.

"This is complete job that requires a lot more than just coaching and recruiting," Todd said.

Gillispie's job security appeared to be in jeopardy after the Wildcats stumbled down the stretch, losing eight of their final 11 regular season games to squander a perfect 5-0 start in Southeastern Conference play. A quarterfinal loss to LSU in the SEC tournament followed, relegating Kentucky to the National Invitation Tournament.

Barnhart said the problem wasn't Gillispie's won-loss record, but his seeming refusal to do the other things associated with being the head coach at the state's flagship institution.

"(Gillispie) spoke to things that were not in his job description, just about winning and losing and improving," Barnhart said. "This program is bigger than that. There's much more to it than that."

Gillispie met with players Friday afternoon but did not address to reporters as he walked to a vehicle outside the player dormitories.

Gillispie arrived at Kentucky with great fanfare to replace Tubby Smith two years ago. Hundreds of supporters crowded the floor of Memorial Coliseum during a pep rally — one with a sign that read "Billy G: Our Savior" — following a whirlwind negotiation that was sealed in the middle of the night at Barnhart's house.

The deal was put together so quickly that Gillispie signed a memorandum of understanding instead of the actual contract. Barnhart said he expected a formal contract to be signed shortly after the hire. The document has never been signed, and the topic became part of a running joke for Gillispie, who seemed nonplussed about it whenever asked.

Regardless, the coach who engineered turnarounds at UTEP and Texas A&M was quickly embraced by one of college basketball's most ardent fan bases.

The honeymoon, however, was seemingly over before it began.

Kentucky lost to Gardner-Webb on its home floor during the second game of Gillispie's tenure, beginning a roller coaster two years that failed to produce any consistency on the floor or any real sense of calm off it.

Making sense of his sometimes erratic substitution patterns proved difficult for both players and fans. He started walk-on Mark Coury almost the entire season in 2007-08 even if it meant Coury played just a handful of minutes at the start of the game before heading to the bench for the rest of it.

Gillispie defended himself by saying the players who practiced the hardest would be the ones who saw the floor during games, a noble sentiment if one that seemed to puzzle fans who wondered why the team's supposed best players weren't in the game at crucial moments.

A sometimes prickly relationship with the media didn't help matters. A couple of run-ins with a female TV reporter during brief halftime interviews this year struck some as inappropriate, and Gillispie could be contentious at times.

He claimed he wasn't hired to be a celebrity, but to win games. He struggled at both, at least by Kentucky standards.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT