Storm Clouds at UK?

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IndyHorn

250+ Posts
Rumors are running rampant that Billy Gillespie will be fired tomorrow. I wonder, if that does come to pass, if that would mean Mitch Barnhardt would make another run at Rick Barnes (if in fact he did two years ago as many suggest)? Gillespie did good work at A&M and UTEP. It would be odd, odd, but were Barnes to head off to Lexington, would there be any chance we would pick up Billy Gee?
 
I don't see Barnes taking that job at this point. I'm not concerned about it at all, and I was scared shitless the last time around.
 
Even if Billy wasn't a raging alcoholic who screws every coed in sight, there's no way Deloss is going to hire a coach who just got fired.
 
Personally, I don't care for Gillispie or his smug, Cheshire Cat grin, but he's clearly a good coach and will succeed if given time.

Then again, so was Tubby Smith, and the Wildcats made him feel so welcome that he ultimately ditched them for Minnesota. MINNESOTA!

Kentucky is quickly becoming irrelevant.
 
They may ask Pitino and Donovan, but I think they would turn them down. Calipari, I could see or maybe Travis Ford.

Where might Capel be going?
 
Tubby was a good guy but it sounds like he took recruiting off for a few years.

BCG is a great coach but he has too much baggage for a big time school.

I think Barnes has it easier here. He can easily recruit in-state talent. The Erwin Center is never full but on the flip side he has a bigger recruiting base here than he does at Kentucky. Kentucky is becoming the Notre Dame of college basketball but without their own tv network.
 
I don't agree, AustinBadger. Barnes was certainly going to entertain the offer the first time around. He's ambitious. Going to a high profile program like Kentucky appealed to him.

However, in the end he decided to stay. I don't know all the reasons, because frankly, I know that at one point he had decided to take the job, then at the last minute turned it down. One of the reasons, though, is because of his family.

Gillispie is a bachelor, but think about if he had been a family man, how much abuse those crazy Kentucky fans would have given his wife and children. Barnes' family will never face that kind of scrutiny in Austin. It's one of the reasons why Tubby Smith eventually stepped down, and he passed that on to Barnes.

Anyway, Kentucky's opportunity to hire Barnes has come and gone. At this stage, I just don't think there's a program in the country that can hire Barnes away.
 
There NEVER has been a Head Coach in basketball, football, or baseball to leave the University of Texas for another collegiate program. Fired coaches, yes, but not a Head Coach to leave on his own will.

In summary, you do not leave the University of Texas.
 
I have no knowledge of what Rick Barnes might do, but he did turn down Kentucky once. However, I can say with almost complete certainty that Gillespe would never be hired by the University of Texas, after reading about some of his behavior, including clashes with the press. It wouldn't matter if he won ten NC's, UT would not hire a guy like that. Too much baggage.
 
I vaguely recall Geoff Ketchum insinuation's around the same idea SL Express is postulating, that it was pretty darn touch and go with Barne's and UK. Frankly, if that is fact, it shocks me that Barnes made that choice. It would indicate that he is surprisingly humble for a D-1 coach, and maybe smarter than most. I think it is in fact much easier to be truly succesful and at peace at UT than in Lexington. Gillespie is a better X/O's coach I'd hazard a guess. They are both darn good recruiters. I don't want Barnes gone, but if were he to leave. Billy G would be a hell of a replacement imho. His drunken brash style plays in Texas a little bit better than in Lexington. Maybe Duke, Wake, or Nc State could come calling to give RB a chance to go home. But none of them have the coin to belly up with a Texas. So maybe SL Express is right on this one. Barnes retires at UT, a legend, hopefully a national one!!! Billy Gillespie has a complexion like Manual Noriega. I sincerely doubt he is tagging too many co-eds, so I doubt the above assertion. I'm not saying he doesn't have the desire, who the hell doesn't!
 
I think it's going to be hard to get a true big name coach to go to Kentucky. Especially coaches like Izzo, Pitino, Donovan, Barnes, and Calipari. The expectations are unreal, they can't necessarily pay any more, and these coaches can get the talent they need to win national championships at their current schools. Kentucky is a storied program, but I don't see what advantages they have over these other schools. The only reason I could see Barnes leave would be lack of fan support(or education), but I just don't think that's enough. He gets paid, gets on TV plenty, can get high level recruits, and the expectations are reasonable. He's on pace to have the court named after him. That, and what Kentucky did with the last two coaches has to make it even less unappealing. My money would be on Travis Ford.
 
Why would Cal leave a place like Memphis and the #9, 10 and possibly #1 recruits in the nation coming in?

Especially for a trainwreck situation like Kentucky that eats their own?
 
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