Billy Gillispie from an outside perspective

by:Matt Jones04/07/07
billy3.jpeg'/ Through the Jai Lucas recruitment, I have become friends with a writer who follows Texas and Southwest basketball very closely. I talked to him last night and asked him about Gillispie and here were his comments: "I think Kentucky could not have made a better hire than Billy Gillispie. He has been waiting for a job like this for the last couple of years and he will literally tear it up. You will find no coach in the nation who will work harder and give more of his soul to the team than Billy. I think it is good that some in the country are questioning the hire, because it will only motivate Billy more to show him that they are wrong. He lives to win, obsesses over it and will not stop until he does it. And as far as recruiting, just wait and see what he will be able to bring to Kentucky. At UTEP and Texas A&M, he got better players than those schools are used to getting. At Kentucky he will get the best players in the country, there is no doubt in my mind. And I bet he will do it quickly. Next year's class at Kentucky will be Top 15, wait and see. People need to realize that he is a different kind of coach. He can be a bit prickly sometimes and his obsessiveness may rub some the wrong way. But as I understand it, people at Kentucky want to win.....and there is no doubt they will win." Interesting comments that I wanted to share. I have more to say on Billy over today and tomorrow, including what I think are the strengths and potential worrisome issues. In the meantime, ignore what the national media says....they are idiots. The same people who say that "the fans wrongly ran off Tubby" are now saying that the Kentucky program has "slipped nationally." IF they cant see those are inconsistent statements, then nobody can help them. Trust me, I have spent time with these people. Rhodes Scholars they arent. I am off to get a haircut......be back later

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