 |
The University of Kentucky is set to name Billy Gillispie as its head coach at a news conference this afternoon. Personally, I know nothing about him, so below you'll find excerpts of his Wikipedia page. He's not even been officially named, but somebody changed it to UK head coach already. Wow.
Billy Clyde Gillispie (born November 7, 1959, in Abilene, Texas) is an American basketball coach and is the head men's Basketball coach at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Though his last name is spelled unconventionally, it is pronounced exactly the same as the more common "Gillespie."
After leading both UTEP and Texas A&M to postseason appearances one year after extraordinarily weak seasons, Gillispie became the only college basketball coach to be in charge of the NCAA program with the biggest turnaround in two consecutive seasons. An excellent recruiter, Gillispie has put together four straight top-25 recruiting classes. In his three seasons at A&M, the Aggies have achieved three consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time ever.
Work Habits
Gillispie is a self-professed workaholic. Despite the fact that he has three assistants who watch opponents' game film and summarize it for him, he watches as many as fifteen of an opponent's games, often working as late as 2 or 3 a.m. to ensure he has adequate time to devote to the task. He has stated that his eight-year marriage ended because he could not find a balance between work and home. With the sheer amount of hours he spends working, Gillispie often does not have time to even shop for groceries, once going as long as six months without any food in his refrigerator. For this reason his breakfast often consists of peanut butter crackers and Dr. Pepper purchased at a local convenience store.
Sounds like somebody who'll bust his butt for UK. Let's hope Barnhart doesn't have to wait as long for Billy to pan out as he did for Coach Brooks.
