It's been exactly one week since Kentucky made its move for Billy Gillispie, and everybody has an opinion on how it went down. Or, more specifically, how Gillispie went from leading Texas A&M to the Sweet 16 to nearly leaving for Arkansas to renegotiating a new contract with A&M to never signing that contract to being the new coach at Kentucky all in the matter of a dozen or so days.
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| See? Billy Gillispie is already making himself popular at Kentucky. (AP) |
I've heard some flawed scenarios.
But it's time to throw out my own scenario of how this might have developed. To be clear, this is my opinion only -- just information from sources mixed with admitted, though reasonable, speculation designed to paint a picture of one of the stranger coaching searches we've seen.
I'm not sure it's good journalism.
But it's fun journalism!
So read this, think about it and then tell me if I'm crazy (I'm not, by the way). From talking to many people, this is what I think happened. And assuming it's close to true (it is, by the way) it's simply further proof that Gillispie is infinitely smarter than the oblivious country boy he portrays. But in case an oblivious country boy is reading this, I'll keep it simple by using a step-by-step format.
Step 1: Gillispie leads A&M, 0-16 in the Big 12 just three years ago, to the Sweet 16. He's a hot commodity. He knows it.
Step 2: Through indirect contact with Gillispie, Arkansas boosters/officials -- plus former Arkansas player Pat Foster, who I'm told was involved on some level as an intermediary -- are led to believe they will land Gillispie if they fire Stan Heath. It's unclear whether Gillispie is misleading somebody or if somebody close to Gillispie is misleading somebody, but it doesn't really matter. All that matters is the folks at Arkansas -- bless their hearts -- genuinely believe they have Gillispie locked up, which is why they fire Heath 10 days after the Hogs were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. There is no backup plan. Gillispie is Arkansas' one and only candidate, and Arkansas expects to introduce him as its coach within 48 hours.
Step 3: Somebody working on behalf of Kentucky lets somebody close to Gillispie know it would be foolish to accept the Arkansas job considering he is in play for Kentucky. That person relays the probable order of candidates for the UK job, and at that point Gillispie realizes he's possibly second and no worse than third on the list behind Florida's Billy Donovan and perhaps Texas' Rick Barnes. So Gillispie understands as long as Donovan rejects Kentucky he'll be sitting nice because then either Barnes will take the Kentucky job and Gillispie will become a serious candidate at Texas or Barnes will pass on the Kentucky job and Gillispie will become the next coach at Kentucky. Bottom line, Gillispie knows if he rejects Arkansas there is a good chance he'll be offered the Texas job or the Kentucky job within a week. Consequently, he passes on Arkansas, and the Hogs continue on a path of disarray during which they are turned down by roughly 77 coaches before South Alabama's John Pelphrey finally accepts the offer.
Step 4: Using the leverage created by Arkansas, Gillispie renegotiates his contract with A&M, but never signs the document. This puts him in a perfect scenario because now he will likely A) continue to coach at A&M for $1.75 million per year if Donovan goes to Kentucky, B) replace Barnes at Texas if Barnes goes to Kentucky, C) replace Tubby Smith at Kentucky if Donovan and Barnes both pass on Kentucky.
Step 5: Donovan and Barnes both pass on Kentucky.
Step 6: Gillispie quickly accepts Kentucky's offer.
Step 7: Gillispie solidifies himself as a brilliant businessman.
Step 8: Gillispie gets started turning Kentucky into a national power again.
(He's already committed a Class of 2009 standout.)
