[Husker] Gillespie leaves A&M to go to Kentucky

[Bob Beach]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Jaixen" <mikejaixen at yahoo.com>
To: <husker at tssi.com>
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2007 8:39 AM
Subject: [Husker] Gillespie leaves A&M to go to Kentucky


> Looks like Bill Byrne is now in the market for a new
> head coach after all.  Billy Gillespie hadn't signed
> his contract extension that he received for not
> accepting the Arkansas job, and now he's off to
> Lexington to coach Kentucky...



     Evidently Dollar Bill couldn't conjure up enough oil money to keep 
Gillispie.  I understand the Kentucky job is arguably the most prestigious, 
if not it is right up there, in college basketball.  However, it is likely 
the largest pressure cooker in college basketball.  I can't think of a job 
with more pressure.  North Carolina and Duke might equal the pressure but I 
doubt they exceed it.  It would be comparable to Notre Dame in football.


     Those people can be downright unreasonable to say it nicely.  You 
literally have to win every game which of course no coach is going to do. 
All Tubby Smith did was during his decade at Kentucky, where he replaced 
Rick Pitino, Smith was 263-83 and reached the NCAA Tournament every season, 
winning the national title in 1998 -- Smith's first season in Lexington.  If 
Smith would have done that at NU he would have been sainted.  But, at 
Kentucky it wasn't good enough.  I really don't see how Gillispie will be 
able to improve on that a lot.


     Now the Big 12 has two coaching vacancies with Huggins bolting to West 
Virginia.  It really has come to the point a recruit cannot trust any coach 
to be at an institution for the duration of his college career.


Bob Beach

The more you know the more you realize how much there is you don't know.