The Closing of the Gillispie Era
by Matt Jones @ 2:24 pm.
So its now completely over. With his Saturday morning press conference in Lexington, the Billy Gillispie era ended for the Big Blue Nation.
Before we completely close the book on Gillispie, I do think it is important to recognize how we got here. [T]his decision had little to do with wins and losses. This was simply the case of an individual who was not well-suited to be the basketball coach at Kentucky. He never felt comfortable doing the things it takes to succeed here and his authoritarian personality rubbed almost everyone in the wrong way. If you win at Bobby Knight in the 1970s-like levels, you can act that way
.but if you win Bobby Knight in the late 1990s-like levels, you cant.
Below are the Five moments that I think led to Gillispies downfall. This decision to remove Billy Clyde was not a quick one
.it built slowly over time, with each mistake building on the other. Over time the total conglomeration made it too difficult to retain him, and a move had to be made. There is a lot speculated about what happened and when, but in my view and from the information that I know, these were the ultimate causes:
(1): Interpersonal Relationships with Administrators, Boosters and Staff
Within his first two months on the job, it is rumored that he and Mitch Barnhart began frequently bumping heads, almost exclusively over the inability of Gillispie to accept the secondary parts of the UK job. Within his first two months, he refused various meetings with influential alumni, cancelled a 60 year tradition of the Kentucky coach speaking at the Lexington Rotary Club, refused mutiple requests to do program building appearances at various in-state events and generally balked at doing all things that were not basketball related.
Gillispie turned off many around the UK athletics office with his attitude and style. I have spoken with numerous UK employees who talked about the tension that all felt with Gillispie in the building. Whereas most who work for UK are part of a family atmosphere, there was a sense that Gillispie was rocking the cradle on how things were done. This led to a situation in which Gillispie had very FEW supporters among influential administrators, boosters and staff. When losses mounted, there were few willing to go to bat for an individual that they had no particular fondness for.
(2) Derrick Jasper:
Derrick Jasper was a player loved by his teammates and all of those around the program. Derrick came to Kentucky for Tubby Smith, and was skeptical of staying in Lexington when a change in leadership occurred. But Gillispie sold Derrick on the idea of being the cornerstone of the new program, and Jasper decided to stay. Derrick is a very soft-spoken, mild-mannered kid who doesnt take over criticism well. Gillispies style of coaching, which includes tremendous criticism and pitches to a players manhood destroyed Jaspers confidence.
Jasper was also of course dealing with his injury that continued to linger. Derrick did not want to return to the court, but after a trainer gave the opinion that he could, Jasper found himself playing again. I have never gotten a clear story on how Jasper ended up on the court (some say Gillispie pressured him into playing, some say that Jasper felt he had to when given the clearance from the trainer), but what is clear is that Derrick regretted his decision to come back. After returning, those close to Derrick have told me that Gillispie challenged the young man a great deal on his toughness and if he was going to keep letting his injury be an excuse. The treatment turned Jasper off and he made the decision to transfer
.thus taking away Kentuckys best point guard prospect and, potentially even more importantly, a teammate that was well-liked.
(3) The Media Problems:
Since early in his tenure, his decision to mock a question or belittle and individual for saying something he disagreed with (usually with a smirk on his face) was known to all that covered him. No one in the media had a warm and fuzzy relationship with him. And then came...the Jeanine Edwards interviews. Three things happened as a result of those interviews.
First, for the first time since Gillispie had arrived, some in the public started to wonder if their beloved coach was actually a jerk. I have heard countless people, particularly women, ask if he was like that normally and question whether that public face should be the coach of the UK basketball program. Second, many in the media thought he crossed the line and it became the cause of the day to blast Gillispie and his attitude when the losing started. Most knew Edwards as a sweet, harmless reporter and seeing her treated poorly led the media to sense blood and begin questioning his attitude at other occasions. And third, it became a direct slap in the face for the Administration. After the first Edwards interview, the administration asked Gillispie to apologize and be careful what he did in the future. He did apologize, but then one week later at the Florida game, he was once again rude, an action that my sources around UK say INFURIATED Mitch and Lee Todd. The thought went that if knowing people were watching and that he needed to be on his best behavior, he STILL couldnt be polite, what hope was there for the future?
Even after all of those Jeanine Edwards issues, Gillispie then made another mistake that older UK fans still bring up to me all the time
..he was perceived as being rude to Tom Leach. Leach, who is one of the nicest men I know, was accused by Gillispie of trying to get him to turn on his players just days after Gillispie threw Perry Stevenson under the bus like none other in a post game press conference. Many fans who heard that, which include a lot of the most influential and wealthy UK fans who listen to Tom on their drive home from Rupp, felt that he had crossed the line with someone they consider like family, the UK play by play announcer. Even when Leach said he took no offense (a classy move on his part), the damage was done and the reputation of Billy Gillispie as a jerk stuck for many in the Big Blue Nation. Win and be a jerk and people may forgive you
.go to the NIT and be a jerk, and it is time for a change.
(4) PLAYER RELATIONSHIPS
The most significant factor in the downfall of Billy Gillispie was his relationship with the players. With only a couple of exceptions, the players simply did not like their coach at all. With a group of young men who were extremely tight as a group, every slight and verbal assault on a teammate became an assault on them and over time, the players simply had no affection for the man in charge. Over the course of a season, countless acts occurred that ruined team chemistry and individual confidence. I am sure there are many more than this, but just a few that I know for certain:
Coach told Jodie Meeks in a number of games to stop shooting and decried him for his selfishness, even during his 54 point performance in Knoxville. He told Meeks he should quit on a number of occasions and even threatened to kick him off the team in his last game ever, in South Bend during the NIT.
At halftime of one game, he forced a player to sit in a bathroom stall with the door closed during the entire break because he said he couldnt stand to look at him.
On more than one occasion, when a young player went into his office to ask for advice on how he could get better, he returned from the office having been berated by the coach and crying as he returned to Wildcat Lodge.
On one road trip, a player who had been injured but was deemed to be too soft by the Coach was told to walk to the hotel from the arena, and only after teammates said that they would be get off the bus and walk with him, was he allowed back on.
On another road trip, a player who felt the criticism was so strong that he locked himself in a room crying, while the team bus waited outside.
These are just a few of the countless incidents, which in total made the team a gloomy group. Some individuals could handle the criticism and some were not targeted with nearly the same amount of vigor. But the totality of the criticism piled up and led to a team that was tight, afraid to make any mistake and left with no feelings of positivity to their coach. Had Gillispie returned, it is not an exaggeration to say that six to seven players may have left
.including names that UK simply could not afford to lose.
(5) The Final Straw:
At the SEC Tournament, I wrote on a live blog that Billys commment about not being an ambassador may be the final straw. In hindsight, I am even more confident that was the case. After the Ole Miss game, when Billy said he had not signed on to be am ambassador for the program, just days after Mitch Barnhart had publically made it clear that was part of the job description
.well that was lights out for Billy Clyde. I spoke with someone who was around Lee Todd when he found about this quote and said he was beyond upset when he heard it. For a guy who was already on the brink to express that level of cluelessness as to what this job entails
.well it meant he likely had to go.
FINAL
[W]hen your view on the program is different than the administation and when your relationship with players is as it was, it will be hard to succeed.
.especially when you arent winning. Jodie Meeks came out this morning in the student newspaper and said that he respected Gillispie but that this was a good decision. Gillispie is a good Coach and I think he will have success, but he cooked his own goose here.
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