Common wealth of problems: Coaches past, present face tarnished reputations

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While basketball is still the king of the Commonwealth, its coaches haven’t ruled the sidelines with supreme grace as of late.
Three current or former UK coaches have all been at the forefront of the sports world in the past few weeks, each for the wrong reasons.

Former UK head coach and current Louisville head coach Rick Pitino is involved in a sex scandal with Karen Sypher. Staff file photo

For the current head coach of the Cats, John Calipari, the bad news focuses on his former school and one of his teams from the past. On Aug. 20, the NCAA ruled that the 2007-08 Memphis Tigers used an ineligible player during their run to the NCAA Championship game in which they lost to Kansas in overtime. It was the second time a Calipari-coached team has had to vacate a Final Four season. He’s the only college basketball coach in history to have Final Fours vacated at two different schools.
The Cats’ former coach, Billy Gillispie, is currently in a legal battle with the university over an unsigned contract that has kept him in the news for the past few months. Gillispie filed a lawsuit in Dallas that targeted the UK Athletics Association. Gillispie’s suit said that under his Memorandum of Understanding, he should be paid $1.5 million each year for four of the five years left on the deal.
Thursday morning, Gillispie was arrested and charged with drunken driving in Anderson County. It is the third time Gillispie has been arrested on alcohol-related driving charges, though he has never been convicted of DUI. On the first occasion, the charge was dismissed. On the second occasion, Gillispie pleaded guilty to reckless driving, a lesser charge.
“Well, with his pattern of recent events, (his arrest is) not too surprising,” integrated strategic communication senior Spencer Maxwell said. “He’s done this just about everywhere else he’s gone. So, now he’s not even coach here, he’s got all kinds of money. Seeing him get another DUI isn’t all that surprising.”
On Wednesday, former UK head coach and current Louisville head coach Rick Pitino called a news conference and proceeded to question the media for their coverage of his sex scandal with Karen Sypher.
Pitino told police he had consensual sex with Sypher in 2003 in a Louisville restaurant after hours, but denied allegations he raped her or provided money for an abortion.
Though Pitino seemingly had disappeared from the news, his press conference has put him back into the front of the news cycle.
While Calipari is not in trouble with the university or with the NCAA, and has not been charged with any wrongdoing, having a second Final Four vacated under his watch damages his perception and credibility even further. Because Calipari hasn’t been mentioned in either case for wrongdoing though, not all fans are that upset with him.
“He’s had the two Final Fours vacated, but at the same time, he hasn’t been mentioned in either case,” Maxwell said. “So if you haven’t been mentioned, it’s kind of hard to crack down on a guy. Although it’s happened under his regime, he hasn’t really been the issue at all.”
With Gillispie, the DUI charge is yet another black eye on a UK basketball divorce that has been anything but pretty. When introduced as coach on April 6, 2007, Big Blue Nation was in euphoria filled with promise and excitement. The fans believed Gillispie was married to basketball and his obsession with the sport would lead UK back to the top of the basketball world.
Two years later, the Cats were looking for another new head coach after Gillispie went 40-27 with numerous embarrassing losses, including Gardner-Webb, San Diego and VMI at Rupp Arena.
In addition to his team’s performances on the court, Gillispie failed to make the connection with the people of the Commonwealth deemed necessary by UK Athletics director Mitch Barnhart, President Lee Todd and the students of the university.
“Well, Billy’s kind of a joke,” political science junior Phil Mosley said. “I always thought he was a joke. He didn’t really perform at the university. Being a big drinker doesn’t really correlate with being a good basketball coach.”
In Pitino’s case, the sex scandal with Sypher is an embarrassment for the husband and father of five. Pitino has been adamant in how hard it has been for both himself and his family and apologized for his “indiscretion.”
In all cases, the coaches have put the Bluegrass back in the forefront of the college basketball world. Though that may not be where they want to be.
“The outside perception doesn’t look too good,” Maxwell said. “Especially Calipari. He’s built himself a little track record now with two Final Fours being vacated. But Pitino, on the other hand, he’s a great coach, but the whole kind of scandal for me is unfortunate. I think people in the state will be ready to move on even though they’re going to take a hit from the national media and people in other places of the country.”