Kentucky to talk to A&M's Gillispie (merged)

[Txbroadcaster]

Kentucky has asked Texas A&M for permission to speak to men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie about its opening, athletic director Bill Byrne announced. Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart call Byrne about 7 p.m. Thursday and was given permission.

“Coach Gillispie is one of the top coaches in the country, and we certainly do not want to lose him,” Byrne said in a statement. “At the same time, I do not want to stand in the way of any member of my department who wants to explore another option if he or she feels that is in their best interest.”

[un b weavable]

....Bill Byrne is allowing Gillispie to talk with Kentucky.:(

[smustangs]

Originally posted by un b weavable
....Bill Byrne is allowing Gillispie to talk with Kentucky.:(

just heard that on espn said he could go to kentucky to talk as soon as next thursday

[g$$]

Sounds bad. ESPN is reporting A&M officials expect him to leave. Not a good day.

[un b weavable]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2827764

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by un b weavable
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2827764
.
Reading that article, I'm not sure Gillispie is commited to anything. Let's wait and see. I hope he doesn't leave myself. He's good for Texas and the big 12.

[Darren]

What do you think....?

[Darren]

Originally posted by Darren
What do you think....?

[Darren]

Apparently I can't type in the morning....



Here is the info.

http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncb/index

[hutex04]

i think, HAHA to Aggies. There goes your basketball greatness

[jason]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/s

Source: Wildcats to introduce Gillispie on Friday
By Pat Forde
ESPN.com

Kentucky has announced it will hold "a pep rally and a press conference" Friday afternoon to announce the hiring of the program's 21st head coach. And according to a source at Kentucky, Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie is the man the Wildcats will introduce to Big Blue Nation.

Kentucky honed in on Gillispie to replace Tubby Smith at the end of a whirlwind Thursday that began with a rebuff from Florida's Billy Donovan and included Texas coach Rick Barnes withdrawing his name from consideration. Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart asked for and received permission to talk to Gillispie on Thursday night, according to Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne.

"Coach Gillispie is one of the top coaches in the country, and we certainly do not want to lose him," Byrne said in a statement released by the school Thursday night. "At the same time, I don't want to stand in the way of anyone in the department who wants to explore another option if he or she feels it's in his best interest."

Gillispie was supposed to be en route Friday to Los Angeles for the John Wooden Award celebration Saturday. The Aggies' Acie Law IV is one of five finalists.

A source close to Gillispie told ESPN.com late Thursday night that Gillispie would accept the Kentucky job if it is offered.

Gillispie recently agreed to a lucrative contract extension with A&M after being wooed by Arkansas, but he did not sign the deal. According to one report at the time A&M and Gillispie verbally agreed to to the extension, the new deal was going to pay the coach about $2 million annually, making him the highest paid of his Big 12 peers.

His name had been on the "B" list of candidates from the beginning at Kentucky after Smith unexpectedly resigned March 22 to take the job at Minnesota.

Kentucky's clear first choice was Donovan, who would not consider the job until after his Florida Gators won the national title Monday night. Thursday morning, Donovan met with Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, and the school announced around noon that Donovan would remain in Gainesville.

Later Thursday afternoon, speculation moved to Barnes as Kentucky's top choice. But by early evening he had withdrawn his name, saying he would stay at Texas. Sources have given conflicting information about whether Barnes decided he was not interested on his own, or if he learned that he was not at the top of Kentucky's list.

Gillispie has worked a swift makeover at Texas A&M, going 70-26 in three seasons at a school that had little history of success. The 2006-07 Aggies went 27-7, earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reaching the Sweet 16. It was the school's first Sweet 16 birth since 1980.

Prior to that, Gillispie was the head coach at UTEP for two years, and he previously worked as the lead assistant to Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois.

Other names believed to be on the Kentucky list were Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Marquette's Tom Crean.

Barnhart and Byrne have a long history together. Barnhart worked under Byrne at Oregon in 1983 and considers him something of a mentor. Byrne's son, Greg, worked under Barnhart at Kentucky for a couple of years, and Bill Byrne helped facilitate the hiring of former Oregon coach Rich Brooks as the UK football coach in 2002, after Barnhart had struck out on several other candidates.

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com. ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz contributed to this report.tory?id=2827764

[CHS_CG]

Originally posted by hutex04
i think, HAHA to Aggies. There goes your basketball greatness


oh you are real mature.. its sad to see such a jerk like you degrade everything A&M has worked for the past few years, and personally I think its BS! This is gunna be a huge setback and you are just gunna sit there and say "ha ha" :rolleyes:

[jason]

Originally posted by hutex04
There goes your basketball greatness more like basketball goodness.....but they still have athletes, they'd just better hope the new guy can recruit and get athletes out to aggieland....

[Snyder_TigerFan]

He and Nick Saban seem to have a lot in common.

[Funk-d-fied]

I wish him the best of luck and am glad to have been able to see him coach in person. Great Basketball mind and a great motivator. Gig em'

[BuffyMars]

Great Odin's Raven! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Pmoney]

it doesnt suprise me...im just happy it wasn't Rick Barnes

[3afan]

so much for loyalty ..........

[Maroon87]

If that's true, good for Billy Saban...err Gillispie.;)


Seriously.....we're talking about KENTUCKY! That's the dream job of millions of hoops coaches. If it's true it's sad the way it came down but the pull of a program of that stature is hard to resist.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by CHS_CG
oh you are real mature.. its sad to see such a jerk like you degrade everything A&M has worked for the past few years, and personally I think its BS! This is gunna be a huge setback and you are just gunna sit there and say "ha ha" :rolleyes:

i think the same thing to K-State who just lost Bob Huggins to West Virginia

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by CHS_CG
. its sad to see such a jerk like you That will do.

[CHS_CG]

Originally posted by LH Panther Mom
That will do.


what do u mean that will do?? I know darn good and well people get called jerks on here all the time.. big deal if they cant handle it maybe they need to get the big boy panties on.

[maestro]

according to an breaking news update this morning on espn...

gillispie is the man headed to kentucky..

as reported by espn..

[maestro]

gillispie is texas high school basketball....

i trully believed that he could have owned this state in a few years...

that being said, i agree.....kentucky is THE flagship of college basketball history.....tough to pass up if you're a gym junkie..

[Adidas410s]

welcome to the club! :thumbsup:

[Phil C]

I thought he had already said he was staying at A&M and wasn't interested in the Kentucky job. :(

[Phil C]

Originally posted by CHS_CG
what do u mean that will do?? I know darn good and well people get called jerks on here all the time.. big deal if they cant handle it maybe they need to get the big boy panties on.

Now now! Calm down CHS.

And by the way you should be getting us

PICTURES OF THE BABY GIRL!!!

:mad:

[3afan]

Originally posted by Phil C
I thought he had already said he was staying at A&M and wasn't interested in the Kentucky job. :(

he lied ...

[Old Tiger]

pms

[kaorder1999]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/04-07/0407bgillispie.jpg

[pirate4state]

thank you Adidas for the heads up this morning :mad: