I’m not one to rejoice in the firing of anyone, but when I heard the news that my favorite college basketball team the Kentucky Wildcats, were firing Billy Gillispie, I was ecstatic. If missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since the Mashburn era wasn’t enough justification, I don’t know what is.

From the beginning, I never understood why they hired Billy. Everyone from Rick Barnes to Billy Donovan rebuffed UK and that hurt the higher-up ego’s at UK. They couldn’t stand the public embarassment, and went after a coach who they knew wouldn’t say no. The mistake they made was not running by Billy that his coaching/social responsibilities are way different at Kentucky than at his previous stop, Texas A&M.

Don’t get me wrong – I think Billy is a decent coach – but not a UK caliber coach. We all know Tubby ran his course and both parties were dissatisfied, but you can’t go from Tubby to a guy who could barely shine his shoes. We’ve had recruiting trouble for decades and it didn’t get any better with Billy. He failed to endear himself to the boosters and alumni organizations which are a vital part of any SEC program. The interview with Jeannine Edwards was also a mark on him and the program. Don’t forget the substitution patterns and the fact that he didn’t win the SEC title nor an NCAA tournament game in his short tenure.

I remember I was so pumped entering his first season because I felt some enthusiasm eminating from Lexington. But once we lost his 2nd game at Rupp against Gardner-Webb, I knew the clock was ticking on this marriage.

In final, forget the Mark Few’s and all these other high profile coaches and look at Sean Miller from Xavier. He’s had great success throughout the years and made various NCAA tourney runs. He’s young, a solid recruiter, and has an affable personality. If our A.D., Barnhart, and the rest of the UK front office can communicate exactly what they need from our new coach, unlike how they did with Gillispie, I think we will be in good shape in the near future. It’s time to stop going after the home-run coach because we are” Kentucky;” and its time to start going after the right coach who is successful, low-key and can rehabilitate our program.

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