Kentucky's Shame: Redux

As I posted the other day, we would see whether the inmates were indeed running the asylum at the University of Kentucky. This morning, according to numerous news reports, the takeover is all but complete: Billy Gillispie will apparently be let go as coach of the Kentucky Wildcats after only two seasons. As a lifelong Kentucky fan, this saddens me to no end.

First let me state, my sadness has nothing to do with Gillispie, per se. He's just a man, for better or worse. I don't know him personally or have any standard to bear on his behalf. By these eyes, however, he's done a better than tolerable job in less than ideal circumstances. He's managed a modicum of success with less than stellar talent, and has recruited a promising class for next season. His track record speaks well for him as well. As Jimmy Dykes said last night on ESPN, "This guy can flat out coach." The fact that a thin, inexperienced team went to the NIT this year doesn't indicate the Coach Gillispie has lost it as a coach. What's more impressive to me than the wins and losses is the way the players played for him in this tournament. All rhetoric and rumors aside, one can tell how players feel about their coach by the way they play. Quite simply, this group showed tremendous support for their coach by the way they hustled and gave every ounce of energy on the court. The execution certainly wasn't flawless, but the heart was there. That tells me all I need to know about the coach.

Nonetheless, it appears Gillispie won't be given the opportunity to continue his rebuilding of the Kentucky program. His detractors cite "off the court" issues as being the primary cause in his dismissal. Strangely though, in this day of cell phone cameras and internet blogging, where Larry Eustachy shows up clearly drinking with coeds, where every last indiscretion of the private lives of celebrities is made public, there are no specifics out there, in word or image, of Gillispie's alleged unforgivable actions.

That leads me to the conclusion I laid out in my earlier post: UK basketball culture has returned to the "win at all cost" mentality that nearly destroyed it in previous decades. CM Newton's legacy of ridding Kentucky of that unsavory reputation is in great jeopardy.

If Gillispie is indeed fired, these are the names for replacement that are being mentioned most:

Billy Donovan (Florida)- Billy "the Kid" allegedly spurned UK's offers after Tubby Smith left town and flirted with the Orlando Magic before returning to UF. He's a Pitino disciple with two National Championships to his credit. He's also been to the NIT the last two years with far more talent than UK had. To say the Calathes, Werner, Spaights, et al have underachieved is an understatement. He's proven and runs a clean program, though. I only question how he will handle the pressure if UK is back in the NIT under his leadership.

Travis Ford (Oklahoma St.)- This native Kentuckian, alum, and Pitino disciple is an up an comer in the coaching world. So was Billy Gillispie, only he had a more impressive resume. Ford would be a lateral move, at best. At worst, the pundits claim he carries the same personality flaws as Billy Gillispie. Might the UK faithful be more willing to accept these foibles from "one of their own" as opposed to the Texan, Gillispie? Maybe. It would depend if we get the Travis Ford who guided OSU to an NCAA berth this year, or the one who took an experienced UMass squad to the NIT. Kentucky fans have shown their true colors: win or else. I doubt Ford's Kentucky ties would get him any significant grace in their eyes.

John Calipari (Memphis)- Coach Cal's record gets a lot of play in UK circles, but alas, to this point he's without a championship. One could even argue that his poor game management cost him one last year versus Kansas. For all the criticism about Gillispie on this front, I've not seen anything from Calipari that suggests he's a superior "X and O" coach. On the contrary: Calipari has always won by recruiting superior talent. Now that's no small talent, but in Calipari's case, the overwhelming impression is that he's managed this through, shall we say, less than ethical means. Yes, he personally was cleared in the Marcus Camby agent mess at UMass, and no, there are no specific citations of rule breaking at Memphis....yet. But as UK fans have been wont to say about Gillispie's indiscretions, "Where there's smoke, there's far." Calipari has a dubious relationship with AAU pimp "Worldwide Wes." Right or wrong, he's garnered a reputation for recruiting mercenary athletes like Dajuan Wagner and Derrick Rose who only use the university as a step-stool to the NBA. Calipari would be the most concerning hire. He would represent the repudiation of all that CM Newton, David Roselle, Rick Pitino, and Lee Todd have tried to do at UK. Hiring Calipari would signify that the reconquest of UK athletics is complete.

As a lifelong UK fan, I'm conflicted. I'm truly disgusted by the behavior of my fellow fans and how this matter has played out. I'm disgusted by their impatience, their willingness to engage in slander and gossip, and especially their willingness to throw players like Michael Porter and Ramon Harris under the bus. These players, albeit limited in basketball ability, have shown the same type of heart and determination celebrated in years past by UK fans. I'm looking right now at my autographed lithograph of "The Unforgettables," a team lauded in the annals of Kentucky basketball. These players are cut from the same cloth, if not blessed with the same success.
I'm thoroughly discouraged by the willingness of a large segment of the fan base to sacrifice two decades worth of arduous labor to restore UK's good name for what, to me, appears to be "magic beans."

And yet, like my own family, I can no more jettison Kentucky basketball than I can my own kin. For better or for worse, they are mine. I own a lifelong identity with this often depraved culture known as Kentucky basketball. There have been times when I have been ashamed of their behavior: the Sutton era, and now. But, I cannot leave them. Like a wayward loved one, I pray that their poor decisions do not kill them or do irreparable harm. And make no mistake, my shame is not directed at the players or coaches, but my fellow fans. We have a dysfunctional culture which has made Kentucky the laughingstock of college sports. I can only pray that, despite this dysfunction, Kentucky basketball can continue to thrive.