The climax to a tumultuous week of swirling rumors, mixed reports and uncertainty finally arrived. The aftermath now leaves the Big Blue Nation divided in their opinion of former UK head basketball coach Billy Gillsipie’s brief two-year tenure in Lexington.

“It’s a shock I think for everybody,” first year graduate student Caleb Churchill said. “I’m just glad it’s over now and we can move on” Churchill, a native of Columbus, Ind., and a UK fan from birth, said two years did seem brief but also acknowledged that as a fan he doesn’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes. Churchill said because of that it’s tough to say whether the firing of Gillispie was premature or not.

“It’s frustrating; it’s sad. I think Gillispie is going to be successful wherever he goes. He’s a great coach, but I guess he just wasn’t the best fit,” Churchill said. “As a Kentucky coach, not only are they an ambassador, but really the ambassador of the university. They get more publicity than probably anybody at the entire university.”

Not all Cats fans believed Gillispie’s fit at UK was the reason for his dismissal. Trevor Prater, a computer science sophomore, believes the exit of the Abilene, Texas, native was due to his coaching performance on the basketball court.

“He obviously wasn’t sufficient enough as a coach; I think it’s for the best,” Prater said. “I think it really all comes down to wins and losses. It’s a good way to fire him I guess, (using his public relations struggles) is a good cop out.

After a streak of only four different head coaches to walk the UK sidelines in 66 years, Cats fans will now welcome in their third head coach in only a dozen years. UK fans, regarded by many as some of the most passionate in all of college basketball, said they realize the pressures of coaching at UK with the rabid fan base.

“The sports culture now is, ‘what have you done for me lately?’ ’’ kinesiology junior Robbie Butler said. “And what he’s done for us lately is get us to the second or third round of the NIT, which is garbage by UK standards.”

With Gillispie’s reign as the head coach for the Cats now over, fans’ attention immediately turned to the future and the possible successors. Opinions varied again on whom the top choice was, ranging from Billy Donovan to John Calipari to Bob Knight, but the name of the former UK assistant coach and current Florida head coach, Donovan, stood out above the rest.

One quality recognized by the fans was the need for a head coach who can get the job done on and off the court. UK fans said the responsibility of the head coach at UK is greater than many other schools because the fans, as Churchill said, “bleed basketball.”

“It’s not something that necessarily is just going to change overnight,” Churchill said in regards to the future of the program. “I think Kentucky will get back to where we want it to be, but it may be a long and difficult process getting there.”

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