Former UK head coach Billy Gillispie leaves the Wildcat Lodge on Friday afternoon, shortly after a meeting with the men's basketball team. Gillispie, surrounded by media, evaded interviews by exiting the back of the lodge, making his way to the Joe Craft Center to clean out his office and leave for the evening. Photo by Allie Garza | Staff
BREAKING NEWS
Billy Gillispie is out as UK’s head basketball coach, UK’s president and athletics director announced Friday afternoon.
President Lee Todd and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart announced at a news conference beginning at 4:30 p.m. that Gillispie would no longer coach for UK. A national search for a new coach will begin immediately, according to a UK news release.
Sophomore Patrick Patterson said earlier in the day that UK does not have a coach.
When asked while he was coming out of the Wildcat Lodge Friday, Patterson said “No one right now” with a smile on his face.
A news conference was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in the Memorial Coliseum media room, according to a UK Athletics news release. UK President Lee Todd and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart would “be announcing a change in the head coaching position of the men’s basketball program,” according to the release, distributed at about 3 p.m. Friday.
The news release did not mention specifically what that change will be, nor if a new head coach will be named. Current UK head coach Billy Gillispie, still in Lexington, was not mentioned by name.
In  Gillispie’s first year at the helm, UK finished 18-13 and was eliminated in the NCAA Tournament’s first round for the first time since 1987.
This season, a late meltdown (the Cats lost nine of their last 13 games) left UK out of the NCAA field for the first time since 1991 — and that year, the 22-6 Cats finished No. 9 in the season-ending Associated Press poll. UK, led by second-year coach Rick Pitino, missed the field because of NCAA probation held over from former coach Eddie Sutton’s tenure.
The Cats’ season ended Wednesday when the team fell 77-67 in the National Invitation Tournament’s quarterfinal round to Notre Dame, leaving them with a 22-14 overall record and 8-8 Southeastern Conference.
Gillispie’s career coaching record is 140-85; at UK, his record is 40-27 (20-12 SEC).
Throughout his career, his record is 1-2 in the SEC Tournament; in the NCAA Tournament, his record is 3-4 (0-1 at UK).
In 2008, he was the Co-SEC Coach of the Year.
UK has not mentioned a replacement for Gillispie, but University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan has been the subject of speculation in both Kentucky and in his Donovan’s home state.
Donovan issued a statement at 5 p.m. Friday expressing his commitment to his current job.
“In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible,” Donovan said in the statement. “I am committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here.”
News outlets in Florida are offering conflicting reports on Donovan’s future at as Florida’s coach.
Florida TV station Fox 35 News reported Friday afternoon a source “close to the University of Kentucky athletics department” has told them Donovan will resigned as Florida’s head coach.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Friday that a couple of sources close to Donovan said they are not worried he will leave Florida. Donovan signed a $3.5 million contract after he signed with the school two years ago.
Donovan can walk away from his contract with a written notice before April 1, the Orlando Sentinel reported, although he would have to lose his $400,000 loyalty clause. After April 1, he would have to pay a $500,000 buyout.
Florida’s athletics department could not be reached for comment by 4:20 p.m. Friday.
Gillispie is UK’s sixth coach since 1931. The other five, in order, are  Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Sutton, Pitino and Tubby Smith.
Gillispe’s departure raises concerns about Patterson’s and teammate Jodie Meeks’ fate at UK. Both are projected as NBA draft picks should they leave UK. Neither Patterson’s nor Meeks’ parents could be reached for comment.
Stay tuned to kykernel.com for updates.
I feel saddened knowing Billy Gillispie needs another year; but he will not get it. There seem to be too many ignorant and ill-informed fans calling for his head, and Lee Todd and Mitch Barnhart, wanting to save their own rear ends, are just going with the flow. It makes me sick to know that our leaders at the University do not have enough moral and mental capacity to look beyond this year and see into the future. Two years at the helm of a team and you are throwing him overboard? That is insane. Not to mention the downward spiral that will ensue now that we have thrown both Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie out the door! Honestly, who in their right mind is going to want to come to Lexington to coach this team? We have kicked two coaches to the curb; I doubt walking into the hell hole we have created here in Lexington seems very appealing to many college coaches.
I am not sure how Lee Todd will be able to sleep at night, knowing he fired a coach for $6 million in these hard economic times. Basketball is not bigger than the academics at the University of Kentucky, and when you go flushing $6 million down the toilet (when you hardly gave the man a chance to begin with) while at the same time, raising tuition costs over the last two years, it makes me wonder where exactly the leadership at the University of Kentucky is taking us.
And so I close with this: I love Billy Gillispie, and I truly feel sorry for him. His relationship with the media might have been a bit coarse, but we all have our flaws. The fact is Billy Gillispie was brought in as a coach, and if there were issues outside of the way he coached, those needed to be addressed and changed. It’s not grounds for losing your job. So I wish good luck to you in your future Billy, and hope wherever you wind up you have all the success in the world, more patient fans, and stronger leadership than you had here in Lexington. I’ll be a fan of you wherever you end up. Goodbye Billy.
What was going on at the Athletics Dept. office at 4:20pm on a Friday? :)
The bottom line is that this team underachieved. Too much talent on this squad to have delivered so poorly. This team was poorly coached. I don’t disagree that you should look at a coach’s body of work. Having said that, Billy G. appears to be a very good coach that can take a relative mid-major type team to respectability. I’m not convinced he has the skills required to run a Big name program and all of the stuff that comes with them. I wish him luck. But either it fits or you cut ties and go in a new direction. UK fans want the very best and have been accustomed to being consistent contenders. I applaud the UK brass for recognizing this and moving swiftly.
Im sick Bill G is a super coach it takes at least 3or4 years to get a program back on track after a coach like tuby .I am assamed to be a UK fan at this point .You can tell billy cares about this players. mich b should be fired he is stuiped now were screwed for a cupple more years .I think mitch B is UNC fan so they will pass us i all time wins. so good luck billy im sure wereever you go next year youll give UK a wippin when you play us. the only coach i like more than billy is Rick Pitio but thats not going to happin .Mr todd get rid of mitch while you are in the moad to do some firings
LOL at the above comment saying Billy G needed 4 years to get this program back on track. In 2008 Billy G had 90% of Tubby’s 2007 team left in tact including all of the major players and he turned them into crap losing to San Diego and the other scrub teams. WTH. Tubby goes to Minnesota and take a team that wins 10 games a year to a top 20 ranking this year and a NCAA spot and that team doesnt have half the atlhetes this team has.
IF you cant take 2 1st round draft picks along with all the other talent on that team and even make it to the NCAA tourney you suck. Tubby took no name players and got a 10 seed at Minnesota. Tubby was a great coach. His problem is he only had 1 good recruiting year and 3 of those players besides Rondo turned out to be flops. Tubby could coach the hell out of the players. What about the year they had no talent but Tayshaun and Bogans and they won 24 straight games which is unheard of in top conferences. That was 80% coaching. Even the great Pitino teams wouldnt win that many straight.
I wish we could have Tubby to coach and get the UNC recruiting machine!!!!
Come on! I hated to see Billy G go as much as the next guy, but we don’t know what happened behind the scenes. To make this much controversy, as firing our Coach, there must be more to the story that we don’t know. Besides, did you see how at ease he was at his post dismissal press conference?
Also, I’m so tired of hearing about how we ran Tubby out. Look, the guy interviewed with another program, and packed up and left in the middle of the night. You can hardly compare that to the situation with BCG. UK coaches are paid extremely well to deal with all the stuff they have to deal with, so they (including BCG) don’t need our pity. Tubby lost the hunger, that’s it. Status quo will never be the pace at UK. GO CATS!!