GREAT hire.  I'm very excited to have the right Billy at UK.
Basketball obsession = perfect attitude for UK.
Resuscitated not one, but TWO programs on life support - think what he'll do at UK!
Came very close to beating national championship team Florida last year in the tourney with a lot less talented team.
Beat Louisville this year in the tourney.

Awesome resume, IMHO.

I've got to say I was rooting for Donovan before, because of the hype of the repeat victories and because he is one of "ours".  And certainly he's a great coach.  But, now that he said he doesn't want to be one of "ours", can't say I want him.  Also it says something about Donovan's ambition that he'd prefer the state where people go to retire over Basketball Mecca.  ;)  [Yes Florida fans, that was a taunt!  Let's heat up that rivalry!]

Besides, now that Donovan has said no and I look at things rationally, I'd rather have Gillispie anyway.

So.... Welcome Coach Gillispie!!!  Glad to have you wearing the blue and white!!!

 Billy Gillispie is a great hire. He can recruit and is a very good in game coach. A guy who I work with(Who graduated from Florida and is a Gator fan)and I discussed this last week. I told him I felt Donovan was playing UK for more money from Florida. I told him UK would get a Billy, just not Donovan. I felt almost positive Donovan was not coming. I would have liked to have gotten Donovan, but I feel confident about this Billy too. Get ready next year for UK Bar & Grill. Speciality's; Gator stew and Munster Burgers (sorry for the pun!)

When Tubby first left, I didn't think any of the mentioned candidates to fill the job were any better overall than he was (Tom Crean? Bleah!).  At best I thought the next head coach would be the equal of Tubby in terms of overall ability to lead the program.

That said, the more I read about Gillispie and the more I think about it, the more excited I get about this hire.

I'm a Tubby fan and I always will be.  All things being equal, I would still prefer that he were back next year.  But I will have no problem rooting for our new head coach and I'll be just as excited for the next basketball season as I always am.  And I'll say it right now - I think UK sweeps Florida next season (yes, pretty easy to say after 4 players leave for the NBA).

As an Aggie I am sad today.  Gillispie will give you everything he has.  Please appreciate him and treat him well.  I hold no animosity toward Billy for leaving because he left our program in much better shape than he found it and we should be able to attract another top-notch coach.  He showed that A&M can field a top basketball team, he got the facilities improved, and they will continue to improve.

Billy, if you ever read this;

Thanks and best wishes

Barry

i have gotten a look at what billy can do to a program in just a couple of years. he took both utep and a&m and made them contenders in just a few short years, and he will turn you guys around.

i honetly dont think there is a big difference between gillespie and donovan, donovan is just furthur along his head coaching career and has the national championships.

good hire kentucky....

along with winning it all next year, is that this Billy is a class act in the same way Tubby is. Winning, yes very important, but these days more than ever, we need to be vigilant that this guy (and I'll admit the Texas part scares me slightly, even tho i'm a Kentucky boy i'm up in Yankee turf now) - hell any guy - that takes the Kentucky job keeps the program in the same reputable shape that Pitino and Smith did. The last thing we need is another clean up job a la the post- Eddie Sutton period.

Anyone got any insider info on the character part of Billy?

Go Big Blue!

p.s. I had a very strange dream this morning that a good friend (and seaofblue contributor) was insisting that Joe B. Hall be hired back.

As you can tell by my login name I am a fan of Texas A&M (I graduated from there in 2000).  Although I am a little upset about losing BG I know that UK is getting a great coach and I hope that he does well in Kentucky.

"Hard-driving"! Who doesn't want to see more of this next year from Crawford and Co.?

His last coaches show at Texas A&M may repeat a couple of times at Fox College Sports in the next few days. Their schedule can be rather iffy at times and they change it without updating their website. His show opens with upbeat hip-hop music which maybe a sign that he is tune (pun intended) with today's players which in turn is very beneficial when it comes to recruiting.

Also two of his NCAA games (Louisville, and Memphis) are going to be shown on CSTV in a March Madness Marathon this Sunday/Monday. CSTV's TV listings can be a bit iffy as well.

http://firebilly.com

Aw, yeah.

I'll admit, I was a little sad when I heard about Tubby, inasmuch as finding out there had been conversations since December about his leaving. Felt a little hurt by the Tubb-ster. I've grown up watching UK basketball, and I was too young to really appreciate the Pitino days, so Tubby was all I knew about Kentucky basketball. I had a feeling Donovan was pulling a Pitino himself, pretending to leave to maybe squeeze some more money from Flordia, so I was never really that excited for him. I heard about the other possible candidates for the job, read some of their bio's, but nothing really hit me as anything too special. Some guy named Gillepsie was the new favorite. Did well turning around A&M. That's cool, I thought.

But then I heard the man speak today.

And by God if I wasn't actually excited, genuinely excited, for next basketball season in a way I haven't been in a long time. I've always loved it, don't get me wrong; It's the only sport I follow year-round. But for the first time, I'm seeing a coach that's making jokes, that's charismatic, and just seems happy to have the high expectations that come with UK.
In short, I feel like we've got a second wind, rather than a handicap of a new coach, and (I have a feeling) what a new wind it's gonna be. After all, he DOES already have a win over Louisville in Rupp. How much more does he really need on his resume?