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» Updated: 27 March 2009 -- 4:25pm

Apparently, Gillispie's firing became official about 5 minutes after I posted this.  At least I was a little bit ahead of the curve...

» Updated: 27 March 2009 -- 4:42pm

Now, as his comment below points out, HSH has discovered an even more interesting development: perhaps Billy Donovan is going to Kentucky.

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Well, friends and neighbors, it’s not like it is unexpected, but it appears that Billy Gillispie is out at Kentucky.  This comes from WHAS TV in Louisville.  Seemingly in response to this report, the Kentucky athletic department issued a public statement which—paraphrased—amounts to their complete refusal to make a public statement.  It read,  "UK mens basketball coach Billy Gillispie has not been fired. There have been no meetings between Gillispie and UK officials today and there is no scheduled press conference tomorrow."

I think a simple “no comment” would have sufficed.

Either way, this does seriously change the dynamic in the SEC East.  Hooper over at RTT has an interesting article on why this prospect scares him as a fan of SEC and Tennessee basketball.  The uncertainty at Kentucky will definitely add confusion to recruiting, but what if Kentucky actually gets a “good” coach?  With rumors flying about as to who will replace Gillispie, it stands to reason that Kentucky Mitch Barnhart will be trying to save his neck by getting a coach who is a little better fit for the Wildcats this time around than was Billy Clyde.  According to the guys at Team Speed Kills, however, that new coach will not be Billy Donovan (or will it?).

In the meantime, I suppose we will all be guessing…

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="I suppose we will have to wait awhile for the next album"][/caption]

I share Hooper’s concerns, over the Gillispie departure—namely that fans are getting a little unreasonable in their expectations when it comes to basketball coaches.  On the other hand, I think it is fair to say that the expectations at Kentucky have always bordered on the absurd.  Just look at how Tubby Smith was treated.  Still, I do agree that on the whole SEC basketball fans have become a little more hysterical and a lot less reasonable over the past few years.  I wonder if this is tied more to the growing belief among many that the SEC can and should dominate every sport every year, or owes simply to the heightened expectations that seem to attend every possible aspect of major sports these days.  In the modern era it is all about “What have you done for me lately?”

On a more self-serving level, however, I am a bit fearful that Kentucky and Mitch Barnhart might actually get this hire “right.”  The reason I fear this is that, under Bruce Pearl, Tennessee has taken major steps toward re-establishing itself as a perennial basketball force in the SEC and beyond.  I would be the proverbial ostrich with my head in the sand if I were to ignore the fact that much of this has occurred in a time when the SEC’s biggest traditional power—the once feared Kentucky Wildcats—have been less than formidable. Thus, a new face in Lexington could serve to squelch some of the gains accomplished under Pearl—especially in the area of recruiting the veritable treasure trove of high school talent in Kentucky.  Still, I feel pretty strongly that Bruce Almighty can hold his own.

But given all of the ridiculous fan expectations that Hooper pointed to, can Tennessee hold on to Pearl?

As HSH documented earlier this week, the 2008-09 Tennessee BasketVols were somewhat of a mixed bag.  Some would say they were a disappointment.  I think that is a little unfair and shortsighted.  I personally believe that the 2008-09 squad represents a continuing work in progress on several levels.  First, the team was full of freshmen and sophomores who will only get better as they continue to benefit from Pearl’s coaching and guidance.  Second, from a big picture perspective, it seems that Pearl is still laying a foundation at Tennessee for a program that can perpetually compete at the highest level.  I imagine that, if asked, Pearl would admit that there are a few more steps to be taken in that process.  Thus, while this season may not have been all that Tennessee fans hoped for, it was hardly a bust.  After all, it was not all that long ago that Tennessee was so dismal that it was not even under consideration for a bid to the NIT.

Still, there were a number of loud and noisy fans who called Pearl’s abilities into question this season.  It was that same type of fan that escalated the situation at Kentucky such that Gillispie more or less had to go.  Seriously, who would want to coach in such a poison environment.  In many ways this resembles the tenor of the conversation surround the departure of Phillip Fulmer. In Gillispie’s defense, however, he only took over at Kentucky 2 years ago.  Then again, it is Kentucky we are talking about.

I worry that the increasing pressure being placed on Pearl by suddenly fanatical Tennessee basketball fans (which only a few years ago would have seemed like an oxymoron) paired with a smart hire by Kentucky (which given Gillispie’s situation also seemed oxymoronic a few years ago) could put Coach Pearl in a difficult position not on the basketball floor, but with his own fanbase.

This is, of course, all doom-and-gloom speculation…

In the meantime, we will all have to wait and see what, in fact, does happen at Kentucky.  I for one will miss Gillispie, mainly because it was really easy to make fun of a guy with a name like “Billy Clyde.”  I doubt that a lot of Kentucky fans will miss him all that much.

Still, Kentucky fans need to be careful, you can scare away quality coaches who simply are unwilling to put up with a borderline-psychotic fan base where they eat their own on a regular basis.  That is a quick way to whittle the pool of available coaches down to the point that you really find yourself in the same situation you just left.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Preach on, Sister!"][/caption]

On second thought, speaking as a Tennessee fan, maybe that is a good thing…

-- So it goes…

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Image(s) Courtesy of: SmashSouthSports

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