Are the inmates running the asylum at UK?

It's what nearly earned them the "death penalty" in the 1980s. It's what Rick Pitino decried when he took the job in 1989: the culture of elitism and entitlement among boosters. Surely, the University of Kentucky is not the only school in the country that struggles with boosters, but over the years, UK athletics has perfected the booster's sense of entitlement and privilege to a dark, and it not careful, deadly art.

In the 1980s, this culture backed Cliff Hagen, the AD and former hero from the Rupp era. They not only looked the other way as UK institutionally suborned payments to players and academic fraud, but actively encouraged it. First the football program under Fran Curci was hit, then Eddie Sutton's basketball program. The result was nearly a fatal blow to the basketball program. Only C.M. Newton, another Rupp protege, who's integrity was unquestioned, was able to save the day by cleaning house.

When Pitino arrived on campus, he pronounced for anybody who could hear that things would now be different at UK. He sarcastically criticized UK as the "Roman Empire" of college basketball and vowed to change the culture. Indeed he did, and the boosters stayed quiet as Pitino built a program that dominated the college basketball landscape in the mid-90s. Then Sheriff Pitino left for Boston and Sir C.M. Newton retired. The boosters had gone underground, but only for a while.

After Tubby Smith, an affable sort, but not one to ingratiate himself to hangers on, missed the Final Four several consecutive years after winning it all in year one, the boosters started to make noise. "Tubby's lost it," they cried. "He can't recruit." And indeed, Coach Smith had started to chalk up double digit losses, had surrendered dominance in the SEC, and was not landing the 5-star recruits, especially after "Team Turmoil." They mounted a negative PR campaign, and eventually, Coach Smith, well-respected by his peers and a proven success both on an off the court, felt the need to get out of Lexington with his mental health in tact.

Enter Billy Gillispie, the self-described "basketball junkie" from Texas. He had turned around programs at UTEP and Texas A&M, basketball wastelands. Surely, given the abounding resources of UK, he would reestablish the Wildcats into basketball preeminence. He had everything Kentucky could want: his life was dedicated to basketball. Even the most voracious "blueblood" UK fan couldn't match the passion and dedication to the game that Billy Clyde brought to the table. He was Southern. As good as Pitino was, something about that New England accent always made Kentuckians a little uneasy. And while Gillispie's Texas drawl won't get anyone thinking he's from Harlan, it was somewhat comforting to hear on the radio. It seemed to be a match made in heaven.

It would have been, except for two things: Billy Clyde, folksy as he sounded, was his own man. He was as advertised: a basketball junkie. He put no truck in glad handing with boosters or answering daft questions from some hottie ESPN put before the cameras as a "sideline reporter." This offended the sensibilities of some pretty important people in the UK community...some people who regularly wrote large checks to the university, and thus by virtue of that act, felt as if they had a right to expect certain courtesies from the basketball coach.

Add to that that Billy wasn't winning right away. Oh sure, anyone with half a basketball brain could see that he wasn't dealt a very good hand. In his first season, he somehow cobbled together an NCAA team that went 12-4 in the SEC by sheer force of will. Two seniors, Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley, handled the ball and accounted for over 70% of the team's scoring. Billy landed a 5-star power forward in Patrick Patterson, but he was injured three-fourths of the way through the season. Still, UK made the NCAA tournament, only to bow out in the first round at the hands of Marquette.

Again, anyone with a little basketball sense would know that the next season would be iffy at best. UK had lost Crawford and Bradley. Patterson and Jodie Meeks, who had missed most of the previous season to injury, returned, but the team had little else it could count on. There was some promise in some freshmen and JUCO transfers, but more question marks. The team started off by losing at home to VMI. Still, by early January, they had stormed out to 16-5 and 5-0 playing the easy part of weakened SEC schedule. When they hit the meat of the schedule, their lack of point guard experience and scoring diversity did them in. UK struggled to the 20 win mark and was left out of the NCAAs, relegated to the lowly NIT.

Remember those boosters? They were mad because Billy G. had affronted them. Now he had committed the mortal sin: not winning. He would be run out of town. As the losses mounted, these boosters acquired more of the popular sentiment. The message boards teemed with calls for Gillispie's head. It seemed to be a done deal, until....

Billy Gillispie has now won two games in the NIT, a victory against Notre Dame away from taking his young team to the Big Apple. It is a young team, one which all signs point to being totally intact for next season. Gillispie has also put together a stellar recruiting class, led by 5-star post man, Daniel Orton. Anywhere else in the basketball universe, fans would be excited by the growth of their young team. They would be proud of the effort exerted by these players under Gillispie's guidance. They would be anxiously awaiting the new recruits as missing pieces to the puzzle that would return them to their rightful place among basketball's elite. Not in Lexington, Kentucky.

It's 1985 again and the inmates, if not running the asylum, appear to be mounting a takeover. There's talk of Calipari, Izzo, even Pitino returning. We'll see if Dr. Todd and Mitch Barnhart have what it takes to stare down this insurrection. They certainly don't carry the clout of a C.M. Newton. They did, however, stand up to public pressure and rightfully retain Rich Brooks with the football program. This is a crossroads moment for UK Basketball. They can maintain their integrity and allow Billy Gillispie to continue his rebuilding process, letting the boosters know that they are in charge of the program; or they can give into that pressure and open UK up to a delayed rebuilding process and, if someone like Calipari is brought in, a total rejection of the reforms made under C.M. Newton.

Are the inmates running the asylum at UK? Time will tell.