CALIPARI MAY BRING COUSINS, HENRY TO UK WITH HIM…IF

He comes….

AND…. Gary Parrish, of CBSSports.com, is reporting that ESPN #1 overall 2009 recruit Xavier Henry has a clause in his Letter of Intent that requires Memphis to release him without stipulations, if Calipari leaves the Tigers. Henry is a 6’6″, 210 lb shooting guard from Oklahoma.

AND…Demarcus Cousins?

Who is this man-child, and how much would it improve UK’s team to have him? Well the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Cousins is rated the No. 1 power forward, and No. 2 prospect in the country. He considered UK early in the recruiting process while attending one of Gillispie’s summer camps, but ultimately gave a surprising verbal commitment to UAB which he rescinded to pledge to Memphis and Calipari.

How much he would improve a front line loaded with Patrick Patterson, Matt Pilgrim, Orton, Perry Stevenson, et al, is anyone’s guess, but can we say bulls on the boards? That’s what we’ll have if we add the beast Cousins to the mix….

Now that John Calapari is courting the job at UK, Demarcus’ mom was ask how they were taking the sudden news: “The things that have developed over the last 24 hours or so, he is not too aware of,” Ms. Cousins said. “He’s at the aquarium today with the (McDonald’s All-American) group. I’m sure if they had any down time, that someone has mentioned it to him. Right now, we haven’t talked about it.”

On John Calapari:

“He likes the way he motivates his players, said Ms. Cousins. “He has watched Coach Cal for a long period of time. He is the type of coach that is very up-front. There’s no gray area. You know right away that his way is the way it is. You learn and he pushes you, and that is what DeMarcus likes about him.”

Kenny Walker, former UK star and NBA player, seemed ecstatic over the possibility of John Calipari joining the Wildcats as head coach:

He has a very charismatic personality. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great motivator. He’s a proven recruiter. Those are all things you need at the University of Kentucky,” said Walker. “He really has all the qualities you need for this job. He’s very good with fans and the media. He relates well to the players. He is the complete package.”

“All I have heard about Calipari is how much fun it is to play for him and that’s what college basketball is about. Get an education, get some exposure for yourself and have fun. Then take it to the next level if you can. “He will get guys to do that and make it pleasant experience for them, and I don’t think that has been the case at Kentucky the last two years.”

BCG Likes and Dislikes

I’ve taken some time over the last few days to reflect on what was the shortest tenure at the UK basketball helm. I think its worth while to reflect on the things that I liked and disliked. I’ll never forget the day UK signed him. My dad called and asked me what I thought. I said, “call me back in two years and I’ll let ya know”. The two years are up, so nows the time if there was ever a time for my review.

• I LOVED the mans dedication. He was dedicated to the returning players from day one. He was also dedicated to what he had done at A&M as well. He had the top center coming in there, and it was a kid that wanted to follow him. He said no. He also gave the returning kids a fair shot. Some say he gave them too much of a fair shot, but that will always be up for debate. He could have easily cleaned house. It would have made all kinds of room to bring in talent. As it was taking on the returning players was a move that cost him several games, but was the right move. IU, on the other hand, cleaned house which should make for a much faster return, but I think the cost in respect can not be recovered.
• I liked how hard he worked. The man was tireless too a fault. I don’t know how anyone could maintain that sort of work ethic without falling apart and in the end, that may very well be what happened.
• I liked that he had a plan and stuck to it. I didn’t really LIKE the plan, but I always respected what he was trying to do.
• I liked how he kept his head down and stayed with it even with a local media that hounded him from day one. The pounding was more than I think anyone could take, and in the end, maybe he couldn’t take it. But I do respect that he always tried to take the high road, half time interviews withstanding of course.
• I did like the player development last year. This year was another story, although several of the guys did get better. But the ones that did were not the ones UK really needed to get better. No one knows if it was the coach or the players but the safe bet is BOTH.
• I didn’t like the style of play, which was not different in many ways to TS. The D gave up too many threes and the offense was far too rigid.
• I didn’t like how he rode one or two players. Playing two on five never works. He drew up some very creative out of bounds plays so I know it was possible to run more things. He simply chose not to.
• I didn’t like some of the reports on things that he did. Of course I will never know how much of it was true. But it seems that he took all the frustrations out on the guys. He really needs another outlet in the future because players are not to be kicked like “proverbial dogs”. NOTE, I do not condone animal abuse, so that was simply a phrase.
• I didn’t like his vocabulary. He was limited at best when he spoke. As an ex player, the repeat phrases over and over, like, “play tough, play smart, and play together”, would get on my nerves very quickly and would lose any motivational pull very quickly.
• I didn’t like the over sized teams. He kept way too many players. Even with having a scout team, it takes away from valuable practice time for kids you really want to develop. The math is simple. The more players you have, the less time you have to spend with each.

In the end, I guess its easy to say he wasn’t a fit. It’s kind of lame and it covers up a lot of real reasons he isn’t UK’s coach moving forward. I think the jury will never be able to decide if he could get it done because there is no way to tell after two years. I do think the pressure was greater than he ever expected. And to be honest, the pressure was way higher than it really should have been. In the end, he obviously did not deal with it very well, but that doesn’t excuse a bunch of people from piling on a whole lot more than there should have been. We’ve seen a few of the writers say they kind of feel sorry for him, but in the end I don’t think what they feel is sorrow but more like guilt. At the end of the day, this was the best move even it it was handled in the worst possible way. He was a lame duck coach after two years who the media hated with all their non-hearts. Now, maybe, UK can bring in someone that can get a fair shake.

Donovan Says “NO”! ORESTES MEEKS SPEAKS!

“Billy Gillispie’s tenure as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats ended yesterday after a two year record of 40-27, one NCAA appearance and one NIT appearance. At this moment, UK is without a basketball coach. Apparently, that will not be Billy Donovan.

“In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible. I’m committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here.” So says Billy Donovan about his interest in the vacant University of Kentucky job.

So says Billy Donovan, who was the second part of the persistent rumor that swirled around Billy Gillispie — that he would be fired and Billy Donovan would be the replacement. Now, we see that the administration had no coach in the wings, and the firing was what it is. A desire to remove Gillispie based on “philosophical differentness and “UN-FIT” circumstances.

Now I have no doubt, after careful consideration, that Billy C. Gillispie did nothing to ingratiate himself to the boosters, media, or the HEAD MAN. He was a hard driving basketball junkie who loved the game and hated the spotlight. This is plenty enough to get you fired in the real world, yet this isn’t the real world. This is no marriage, there was no contract. This was no agreement; there was none, perhaps an understanding, but those are very flimsy, as we can see now.

This is a basketball team with young men hanging in the balance of their careers, and a program tethering on the brink of instability. A strong recruiting class coming, whose parents want to know what is going on. Those things are paramount in considering anything in relation to the men’s basketball program. Having a man in place who appreciates what the University of Kentucky basketball program is all about is a no-brainer. Mitch should have thought of that two years ago when he introduced us to Billy Clyde as the saviour of UK basketball.

Now, we are left to twist in the wind while we look for a basketball coach. Experienced coaches are turning us down now, first Donovan, now Calipari. Never say never, and some may reconsider but, A “home run” hire is necessary soon to address the need to retain the recruits we have coming in. The search is on……

Mike Decourcy, The Sporting News, weighs in, “The guy’s been there two years. If you’re firing somebody after two years, with one NCAA appearance and an NIT, I’m not sure the failure belongs to the coach.”

“You need a special guy…I think that John Calapari…Rick Barnes….Travis Ford…” Vitale offered these names, and we know these. We will be needing NO help from Dicky V. I’ll take Travis. Thank You.

Orestes Meeks, Jodie’s father, had some very unflattering things to say about Billy Gillispie. “They got worse as the season progressed. I don’t know why that was. To me, that is a leadership issue. There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that went on. Some of that stuff was self inflicted (by Gillispie). I couldn’t understand a lot of the stuff they tried to do.” After UK’s loss at Florida, a Florida player said Jodie Meeks told him he was told by Gillispie to quit shooting. Gillispie denied that later as did Jodie Meeks. However, Orestes Meeks said it happened in other games this year as well. “He was telling him that all year about shooting,” Orestes Meeks said. “When he hit 7 3’s against Tennessee State in the first half and he was 8-for-11 from the field and he told him, ‘Why do you have 11 shots. You are shooting too much.’ “I think Coach had a problem with Jodie doing as well as he did. We do not have a relationship. I do not talk to him. When the school started the (national player of the year) promotion for Jodie (in February), he benched him (at South Carolina). He took him out and told him not to shoot even though he just had made a shot. He just told him to sit down. How does that make sense?” Indeed Orestes, it makes no sense, and if this is true, we did make the best move…

Alan Cutler

I think everyone was expecting Coach Gillispie to be let go today but Alan Cutlers treatment of BCG completly crossed the line. It was bad enough that we were going to look bad because of the way the administration handled the situation and the way the fans acted. Now we are having the national press showing videos of Cutler harrassing a fired coach in the name of a story. There isn’t one thing in this whole fiasco that makes UK look good.

UK Dismisses Billy Gillispie

After two tumultuous years at the helm of the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team, Billy Gillispie is out. Kentucky’s top choice two years ago when Gillispie was hired, Billy Donovan, is rumoured to be the replacement.

Billy Gillispie arrived at UK with a reputation as a hard-nosed grinder who overachieved. He had four conference Coach of the Year awards in his pocket to go with it. Some said that Billy was too much of a task master, that he wore his players down, but it CANNOT be said that he did it HIS WAY, since he never got the chance, given only a two – year tenure.

Billy Gillispie had a 40-27 record in his two year at UK. He took over for Tubby Smith who left to go to Minnesota. This year UK missed the NCAA for the first time in 18 years. Reports are that UK is reaching out to representatives of Billy Donovan.

UK ENDS SEASON FALLING TO IRISH 77-67

Notre Dame hit 12 big three pointers Wednesday night, and held off a charging UK team. The Irish displayed a variety of offense in dispatching the Wildcats. Not only did the Irish light it up from 3 land, hitting over 50% of their shots, they also got a great game from Luke Harangody who went for 30 points and 11 rebounds…All and all, it was too much for a Kentucky team that had struggled all year to guard the three point shot…

Jodie Meeks scored 18 of his 21 points in the final 12:18 as the Wildcats (22-14) used a 17-5 run to cut the lead to 67-62 on a slam dunk by Perry Stevenson with 2:42 left. But the Irish were 8-of-8 from the free-throw line over the final 1:29 to end the game on a 10-5 run to hang on.

Ramon Harris suffered a mild concussion in the first half, and his defense was missed on the three point shooters for the Irish. UK, as they have all season, had trouble guarding the 3 point shot. “That’s what inexperience can do…we just had a couple of bad stretches” were among the post game comments of Billy Gillispie…

UK’s fans are left in a “waiting pattern” waiting to see who the next coach might be, and for many, what the reason is IF the one we have is dismissed.

Kentucky closes out its season at 22-14, while Notre Dame moves on to Madison Square Garden to face a Penn State team (25-11) in New York.

HARANGODY=HARD TO GUARD

UK VS NOTRE DAME –

Before his freshman season, even Luke Harangody’s parents were sceptical when Irish coach Mike Brey suggested he would make “an immediate impact. Brey continued, “He’s as good a story as they come. When his parents heard me say how important he’d be as a freshman, they looked at each other like, ‘You’re sure we’re talking about Luke?’ He’s turned into a player capable of dominating in the best league in the country.

Luke Harangody has proved to be very hard to guard in his last couple of seasons at Notre Dame…The 6’8” 255lb PF has lead the Big East in scoring the last two seasons, and this year averages 23.3ppg in leading the Irish. The Big East is considered the toughest conference this year, and Luke represents the toughest player in the toughest conference…Many think that Luke will be a better NBA player than that other BIG kid, whose name also starts with an “H”.

What Harangody might lack in athleticism, he makes up for in brute strength inside and a deft touch from the outside. Patrick Patterson, UK’s big man, obviously respects his game and details the challenges he will face in guarding the Big Man, “With his size, strength and height you can tell that he’s obviously a post player,” Patterson said. “But when he gets the basketball, he’s able to shoot turnaround fadeaways, step back dribble fadeaways. He’s shooting threes.” AND “”It means I have to play it all over the place,” the Kentucky sophomore predicted. “I know he can post up but I’ll have to play with him out on the perimeter where normally I can back up with big men. Inside the post, he’s a lot stronger and wider than me so I know he’s going to try to back me down and overpower me.”

UK is playing after surviving a second round game with Creighton 65-63 before a roaring crowd in Omaha, Neb., on Monday night. Jodie Meeks scored the last 5 points of the game to put it in the win column for the Wildcats.

The Irish suffered 10 of their 14 losses in the rugged Big East conference, which still has 5 teams in the sweet sixteen, a first….The winner of this game moves one step close to the NIT Championship AND goes on to New York City’s HaLLowed Madison Square Garden for the semi-finals of the NIT. Tipoff is 7p.m. tonight at the Joyce Center on the campus of Notre Dame.

UK ESCAPES CREIGHTON 65-63!

Amid swirling rumours as to his future as UK’s basketball coach, Billy Clyde Gillispie took his basketball team to Omaha Nebraska to take on a Creighton Blue Jays squad that has been on a roll of sorts winning 12 of their last 13 games. They certainly represented an almost impossible task and a tough out for a team like UK that went in the other direction over their last 13 games, dropping 9 of those…

UK rode the backs of its two leading scores, Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson, who sit out most of the first half with foul trouble. Patrick was a warrior inside the entire second half and Jodie won the game, scoring the last 5 points, after being held in check most of the night…

BCG is right, this team has matured over the past couple of weeks, because this is one of those games that they lost all season, but this one, well.., they found a way to win, using their “bunker mentality” says Glenn Cyprien, assistant coach. Example: UK was down by 3 points with 1:25 seconds to play…Jodie Meeks scored a layup, and was fouled on a driving shot in the lane, for the old fashion 3 point play…The final margin of 2, with 7.5 seconds, left was the largest lead for a UK team that fought to stay even all night…

One indicator of team maturity is the fact that UK executed all five of it’s time out plays, including the all important one to Meeks that won the game. “I just think we’re executing a lot better overall, but coming out of timeouts people realize their assignments and are carrying them out the right way,” sophomore Patrick Patterson said. “Coach always has an arsenal of plays and tonight we executed them a bunch of times,” said Patterson, who was on the giving and receiving end of the set plays. “Down the stretch, it enabled us to score when it mattered the most.”

But, again, the biggest story was the way they played in winning their second straight NIT matchup. Defeating what was considered the strongest team in the field, will go a long way for the team’s confidence come Wednesday Night against Notre Dame.

Indeed, UK was the underdog here, and seemed to relish the role, playing in front of a sold-out Qwest Arena…There’s nothing that can quell the rumours like a team that comes out, and plays as if there is none…BCG intimated that he and the players were having fun, “…Shoot, our guys are having fun, I’m having fun and we’re going to go after it.”

BCG seems to be an “old school”, throw- back, type coach, who is not concerned with social graces, hence his problems at UK. There’s is no doubt he could have chosen his words much better in many encounters with the press this year, and with his own in-house media people. Hopefully, the gist of Friday’s meeting will alleviate that situation…

He is a single man who lives and breathes basketball, and two years ago we were told by this very administration that HE would be THE FIT for UK basketball. If he goes, he has not had sufficient chance, by any means, to build a team and the error is UK.

To say that a man cannot change, as some in the media have suggested, is an awful stigma on one’s persona. Patrick Patterson intimates that Billy Gillespie has ALREADY changed, “”Coach will ask our opinions. He’ll ask if we see anything out there and he’ll take it to heart,” Patterson added. “I think he’s come a long way from last year because he didn’t do that too much. But we’re all a lot more comfortable with each other.” THEY better have a top notch coach waiting in the wings, or it might be a difficult search for a new ONE….

UK vs CREIGHTON – BCG RuMoUrS

The Wildcats get a chance to play again Monday in Omaha, Neb., when they face Creighton (27-7) in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. If they win, they will play a third-round game at Notre Dame on Wednesday.

During a Sunday news conference, UK’s coach Billy Gillispie, shrugged at intense speculation about his firing as the Cats headed for Omaha, Neb., to play Creighton in the National Invitation Tournament.

“All I do is work,” he said. “That’s all I’ve ever done (and) all I’ll ever do.”

That prompted a question: Because he does not acknowledge the public-relations component of being UK’s coach, does Gillispie want to return?

“I love it,” he said after chuckling. “I mean, I love it. I love this place.”

But Gillispie could not say at a Sunday news conference whether he will remain Kentucky’s coach next season.

Gillispie neither confirmed nor denied that UK President Lee Todd met with Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart late last week to discuss the future of the basketball program. Or whether the coach had met with either of his superiors about the program in recent days, “We meet all the time” was his response.

Creighton, winner of 12 of their last 13 games, is led in scoring at 15.7 ppg by Booker Woodfox who was also the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year…He also shoots 47.6 from 3 land, 3^rd in the nation.

I look for Darius Miller to continue his improved play. Darius has been averaging 9.3ppg over his last ten…BCG on Darius: “It is hard for a freshman, and being Mr. Basketball in this state is added pressure. (Darius) has handled. He is learning to play angles and I’m proud he is improving in that area so quickly. He is not afraid to take shots and force the action, and I have great confidence he can guard his man in the toughest situations.”

Ramon Harris on the game, “Last year we had a few ups and downs and then we got it going. We thought the same thing would happen this year, but it didn’t. This is our last chance to get it going and prove that we are better than people think”.

Indeed it is….

“PRO DAY” NFL LOOKS IN ON WILDCATS

Wednesday morning at the annual “Pro Day” workout for professional scouts, the 2008-2009 UK Football Seniors put their talents on display…Nutter Field House was the site, and while there weren’t as many scouts there as there was last year when we had six seniors, there were representatives of 18 professional teams and the Kentucky Horsemen…

Myron Pryor is the highest ranked Wildcat on the board and he expects to go in the middle rounds or as early as the third round…HE was pleased with his drills… “I went up there focused and had a mind-set that I was better than anybody else out there,” he said. “The main thing I’m working on now is getting in shape. The rest of it I think I have pretty much down.”

University of Kentucky senior linebacker Braxton Kelley ran the 40-yard dash for NFL scouts, but the biggest story may be that senior running back, Alphonso Smith ran a 4.27 forty. Official times were suspect, since each Scout had his own stopwatch, but that is in keeping with some of the, “4.2 range of times”, that Smith has notched…The fastest graduating senior on the board was David Jones who posted a 4.34 forty time…

Rich Brooks said Jeremy Jarmon, Trevard Lindley, and Micah Johnson, all who tested NFL waters, along with junior defensive tackle Corey Peters, should give the Cats a strong 2009 draft class. Johnny Williams, Gary Williams, and Liberty Bowl Hero Ventrell Jenkins also worked out for the Pro Scouts.

Three of the Wildcat seniors Myron Pryor, Tim Masthay, and safety Marcus McClinton had been worked out previously by The Scouts in February at the official NFL combine. Those players joined in for the additional evaluation.

The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 25-26, and Rich Brooks thinks that the 2008 seniors will add to the success of the UK senior class of 2007. Seven senior Wildcats from the ’07 team were drafted or signed as free agents, six of whom made it onto a roster in the NFL.

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