Aggy grants permission to UK to talk to Billy Gillespie

[IcemanCometh]

Here we go again

:smokin


aggy guarantee is the kiss of death

[Kermit]

see ya clyde.

[Extra Stout]

That's a job he can't say no to, and his lack of a family makes him a good fit there.

[johngateswhiteley]

not gonna happen, boys.

[samikeyp]

Its happening, boys.

[MajorMike]

I feel sorry for UK. They got turned down by a couple elite coaches and are going to have to settle.

[beachbarbie948]

I feel sorry for UK. They got turned down by a couple elite coaches and are going to have to settle.


What? They got turned down by Donovan but ESPN is now saying Barnes was never offered the job.

[MajorMike]

What? They got turned down by Donovan but ESPN is now saying Barnes was never offered the job.

Oh, sorry, I wasn't reading that one. I was reading CBSSportsline and SI.com and Foxsports and USAToday that all said he was.

[50 cent]

:bang :bang :bang

:pctoss :pctoss :pctoss



:depressed :depressed :depressed

:drunk :drunk :drunk

[MajorMike]

not gonna happen, boys.

So Long Aggies (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/)

Kentucky to name Gillispie coach (http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6651032)

Billy bluegrass (http://cbs.sportsline.com/)

Kentucky to name new basketball coach today (http://www.usatoday.com/)

[Brutalis]

I don't know where but I told you guys this was happening.

[degenerate_gambler]

As a Longhorn, I have to admit I enjoy the heck out of seeing UT beat Aggy at anything. But it's even better when both schools have competitive teams and you know either can win on any given day. Gillispie brought that to the hoops program there.

That said, aggy would have to be delusional to think that back to back years of success in the NCAA's cements a 'tradition' stamp on their program. Your former coach did what most coaches do in his position...they move up to bigger and better programs after turning around a sad excuse for one.


Just try to stay away from the Kermit Davis/Melvin Watkins of the world will ya boys?

[ducks]

Kentucky's restless two weeks are over. The Wildcats are giving a seven-year contract to Billy Gillispie, who will try to restore some of the luster to college basketball's winningest school.
Athletic department spokesman Scott Stricklin confirmed Friday that Gillispie's hiring would be announced at a 12:15 p.m. EDT pep rally, then a 12:45 news conference.

University spokesman Jay Blanton said Gillispie has agreed in principle to a seven year contract, but the financial terms weren't immediately available. The school's Athletics Association Board scheduled a 2 p.m. meeting to make the hire official.

Gillispie becomes Kentucky's sixth coach in the last 76 years. The Texas A&M coach will replace Tubby Smith, who spent a decade in the glare of the sport's brightest spotlight before bolting to Minnesota.

Gillispie led the Aggies to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 this year for the first time since 1980.

The Wildcats turned to Gillispie after another Billy -- Florida's Billy Donovan -- decided Thursday to stay with the Gators. Texas' Rick Barnes also indicated Thursday he wasn't interested in the job, but it was never formally offered to any candidate other than Gillispie.

Gillispie replaces Smith, who left the Wildcats after 10 seasons to take the head coaching job in Minnesota last month, despite having four years left on his contract.

Gillispie is 100-58 in five seasons as a head coach. He spent the last three years with the Aggies, molding the longtime also-ran into a Big 12 power. Texas A&M went 27-7 this season.

His success with the Aggies made Gillispie a hot commodity. He was approached by Arkansas after Stan Heath was fired, but decided to stay with the Aggies, agreeing in principle to a new contract worth $1.75 million that would have made him among the Big 12's highest-paid coaches.

The 47-year-old Gillispie, however, never signed the deal and he didn't hesitate when Kentucky came calling. Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne gave Barnhart permission to speak to Gillispie on Thursday night.

Gillispie served as an assistant coach to Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois before moving on to coach UTEP in 2002. He coached the Miners for two seasons, surviving a 6-24 season in 2002-03 before leading the Miners to a 24-8 record the next year.

Texas A&M lured him to College Station in 2004, and Gillispie didn't waste time turning around a program that went winless in Big 12 play the year before his arrival. Texas A&M made it to the NIT his first season and the NCAA tournament the next two.

Behind the play of senior point guard Acie Law, the Aggies spent most of the 2006-07 season ranked in the top 10. They finished 13-3 in the Big 12 this season.

Some of Gillispie's finest moments came on the Rupp Arena floor in Lexington. He guided the Aggies to wins over Penn and Louisville in the opening rounds of this year's NCAA tournament.

The Louisville game was unique because it featured Smith's predecessor, Rick Pitino, coaching against Smith's successor on Kentucky's home court.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[RonMexico]

I feel sorry for UK. They got turned down by a couple elite coaches and are going to have to settle.

See? This is why we can't have a decent forum because some jackass has to come in and screw it all up.

"Settling" is handing the reins over to Sean Sutton, by the way.

[2centsworth]

I feel sorry for UK. They got turned down by a couple elite coaches and are going to have to settle.
that's retarted.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Aggies should not have low balled the great Gillespie.

[Extra Stout]

Aggies should not have low balled the great Gillespie.
They didn't lowball him; they gumballed him. There was a clause in his contract where students and faculty would be obliged to pray five times daily while kneeling prostrate in the direction of his office. His contract was for more than the football coach is paid at Texas A&M. That would be like the owner of a French bakery earning more than a crystal meth dealer in East Texas. But Aggies know you can't compete with a tradition like what UK has in basketball. The only jobs more desirable are UNC, Duke, and maybe UCLA.

[RonMexico]

Now, I just hope that the Texas A&M job is more desireable than VCU, Winthrop, So. Illinois, Witchita State, Pitt, USC (fat chance), or Arkansas...

Unfortunately, it's probably not more desireable than Creighton...