[BlackcatAlum]

The more I think about it, the more I like the hire of Travis Ford. Not saying that it will happen, but I think that he is the man for the job. He understands UK's history, he even played at Kentucky, and although he isn't a proven recruiter, the name Kentucky will help him.

I'm all for Donovan, Calipari, Izzo, and Wright, but I would be more than happy with Travis Ford as our next head coach.

Thoughts?

[Memorial Gym #5]

No Travis Ford!! Kentucky can surely do better than that!

[BlackcatAlum]

No Travis Ford!! Kentucky can surely do better than that!

Why not?

[Strikeout King]

No Travis Ford!! Kentucky can surely do better than that!

i agree, UK does not need Travis Ford

[dbteeter]

We can't afford another 2 second decision by the Mitch ...man though! Down with Mitch.

[dbteeter]

Can we just get a whole fresh start and replace Barnhart too! He started this junk!

[BlackcatAlum]

Can we just get a whole fresh start and replace Barnhart too! He started this junk!

UK president, Dr. Lee Todd has way to much respect for Mitch Barnhart to fire him.

[Stardust]

I feel that Travis is putting us in no better of a situation than we just came from. Given time, Travis may be the guy, but seeing how it ended for Tubby and BCG, it would be a bad hire. Travis is less proven than BCG. BCG had a chance to prove himself with his own classes in proven conferences. He proved that he could recruit and he could win, but, he was given the time to build a program.

UK Fans want it NOW! They will turn on Travis, just as they did BCG. It's already been posted before by others, that Travis is no more savvy than BCG. So, from the Fan/Media perspective, it's not like you get anything better. Undestanding the UK tradition does not fly in the new century. So, the challenges that Travil will have as an unknown coach will make the recruiting process no better than what we have seen in the last 9 years. As far as resume? Travis has one in two converences that are not even considered mid-Major. He went to OSU and one with 9 of the teams top 10 players from the previous year, so just like when Tubby took over, Travis did not win with his team.

Don't get me wrong, I like Travis a lot. Is he ready for the fishbowl of UK, un-uh. This would be a "settle-for" hire. Look what that did for BCG.

[BlackcatAlum]

I feel that Travis is putting us in no better of a situation than we just came from. Given time, Travis may be the guy, but seeing how it ended for Tubby and BCG, it would be a bad hire. Travis is less proven than BCG. BCG had a chance to prove himself with his own classes in proven conferences. He proved that he could recruit and he could win, but, he was given the time to build a program.

UK Fans want it NOW! They will turn on Travis, just as they did BCG. It's already been posted before by others, that Travis is no more savvy than BCG. So, from the Fan/Media perspective, it's not like you get anything better. Undestanding the UK tradition does not fly in the new century. So, the challenges that Travil will have as an unknown coach will make the recruiting process no better than what we have seen in the last 9 years. As far as resume? Travis has one in two converences that are not even considered mid-Major. He went to OSU and one with 9 of the teams top 10 players from the previous year, so just like when Tubby took over, Travis did not win with his team.

Don't get me wrong, I like Travis a lot. Is he ready for the fishbowl of UK, un-uh. This would be a "settle-for" hire. Look what that did for BCG.

I totally disagree with you SD.

Travis is a more proven coach than Gillispie. Ford has won everywhere he has went thus far (Campbellsville, EKU, UMASS, and Oklahoma State) as Gillispie has only coached college basketball for 6 or 7 years at three different schools (UTEP, Texas A&M, and Kentucky).

Ford's resume is better than Gillispie's.

[TidesHoss32]

UK needs to do exactly what Alabama did in football a few years ago. Dont go after the "pick from the heart alumni" guy. Or a "rising star" like Gillispie. Get a proven winner. Offer John Calipari whatever he wants. I would say Pitino but I dont think Pitino would leave Louisville for UK at this time. If he was somewhere else I would count him in, but go after Calipari. I would leave Donovan at Florida too. Why trade one NIT coach for another?

[BlackcatAlum]

UK needs to do exactly what Alabama did in football a few years ago. Dont go after the "pick from the heart alumni" guy. Or a "rising star" like Gillispie. Get a proven winner. Offer John Calipari whatever he wants. I would say Pitino but I dont think Pitino would leave Louisville for UK at this time. If he was somewhere else I would count him in, but go after Calipari. I would leave Donovan at Florida too. Why trade one NIT coach for another?

I would love to see Calipari get hired at UK, but I don't think that Barnhart will even pursue Cal.

[MVP2]

I first said I didnt want Ford but more I think about it I agree with BCA. Hes from UK played there, he took EKU to the big dance, he took OK St to the 2nd round this year. I'll be happy whoever UK gets and I'll support our Coach just as I did Gillispie. I would rather want someone that has proven a little more than Ford but I dont be upset if Ford is our next coach.


As for Calipari, Im not sure how everyone is saying hes a proven winner either. Hes one heck of a recuiter but hes never won a championship and yes he has 30+ wins but hes in the C-USA thats half of the wins but he will have one yet of a team next season at Memphis if he stays that could win it. I'd be happy if he came to UK and could bring a few of them recuits to Lexington, like Jon Walls.

I'll be happy whoever our coach is and I cant wait to see who it is.

[theVILLE]

No way a Uk fan and understand it is none of my buisness....I think Ford would be a good one for the job....He is a proven winner...I mean he made the tourney every where he went....yeah that isnt saying much but better than they did this year, and he has been at EKU, UMASS, OK ST., so why not give him a try ....but on the other had I like VCU coach he could be a good one....Or calapari, its going to be hard to get him to come to Uk with the winning style he has there and UK is down at the bottom right now.....

[Stardust]

Ford's resume is better than Gillispie's.

Comparable, but IMO, not better:

Ford
Campbellsville (Mid South - no post-season games coached, not Division 1)
16-17
28-3
23-11

EKU (Ohio Valley)
7-19
7-20
11-17
14-15
22-9 (NCAA 1st round)

UMass (A-10)
13-15
24-9 (NIT 2nd round)
25-11 (NIT Finals)

OK State (Big 12)
23-12 (NCAA 2nd round)

From what I see, when Travis was given an opprotunity to put his program together, he was able to build success. The exception is OSU, where he inherited 9 of his top 10 players.

Overall record 210-156 - BUT 146-127 for D1, with one 1st place conference finnish, 2-NIT appearances and 2-NCAA appearances - or 4 post season appearances in 12 years of coaching.


Gillispie
UTEP (Western Athletic Conference)
6-24
24-8 (NCAA 1st round)

Texas A&M
21-10 (NIT quarterfinals)
22-9 (NCAA 2nd round)
27-7 (NCAA sweet 16)

Kentucky
18-13 (NCAA 1st round)
22-14 (NIT quarterfinals)

Overall record 140-85, with one 1st place and two 2nd place conference finishes. His record indicate that every school he coaches, he improves the overall team record every year. He has 6 post season appearances in his 7 years of coaching.

BCA - besides your gut feel for whose better, based on the numbers, who has been more successful?

[Colonel Kill]

UK needs to do exactly what Alabama did in football a few years ago. Dont go after the "pick from the heart alumni" guy. Or a "rising star" like Gillispie. Get a proven winner. Offer John Calipari whatever he wants. I would say Pitino but I dont think Pitino would leave Louisville for UK at this time. If he was somewhere else I would count him in, but go after Calipari. I would leave Donovan at Florida too. Why trade one NIT coach for another?

:Thumbs: I completely agree. I like Ford and think he would be a good coach but if you can get a Calipari you do what it takes to get him. He is a proven recruiter and coach as well as a good media personality. He would have top class recruits in SOON and will win games.

[Stardust]

No way a Uk fan and understand it is none of my buisness....I think Ford would be a good one for the job....He is a proven winner...I mean he made the tourney every where he went....yeah that isnt saying much but better than they did this year, and he has been at EKU, UMASS, OK ST., so why not give him a try ....but on the other had I like VCU coach he could be a good one....Or calapari, its going to be hard to get him to come to Uk with the winning style he has there and UK is down at the bottom right now.....

Check out the above.

I'll let you take the litmus test as well Ville, look at there performance, and take your gut feeling out of it, whose got the best track record based on the facts?

[Colonel Kill]

BCG had a better record but Ford has something BCG never got. What UK basketball means. I would prefer Calipari though.

[Stardust]

BCG had a better record but Ford has something BCG never got. What UK basketball means. I would prefer Calipari though.

I have an idea of What UK Basketball means, doesnt mean I can coach there. Kyle Macy wanted this job BAD. Who possibly knew better than Kyle Macy what UK Basketball meant. The administration was smart enough to not take that chance.

[MVP2]

BCG had a better record but Ford has something BCG never got. What UK basketball means. I would prefer Calipari though.

I do agree with that. I thought Gillispie did the best he could with this team. He had some bad breaks or we would have been the NCAA but Gillispie didnt understand that UK is not just any other basketball school. I did hear on ESPN that Andy Catz reported Calipari would be interested if offered.

[Colonel Kill]

I have an idea of What UK Basketball means, doesnt mean I can coach there. Kyle Macy wanted this job BAD. Who possibly knew better than Kyle Macy what UK Basketball meant. The administration was smart enough to not take that chance.

What I am saying is BCG had the coaching aspect but not the personality fit. He failed to understand that being UK's coach was more than x's and o's. You have to be a great coach but this job is so much more than that and BCG did not want that part of the job. Macy wasn't that great of a coach. UK needs the total package and BCG was not it.

[Stardust]

What I am saying is BCG had the coaching aspect but not the personality fit. He failed to understand that being UK's coach was more than x's and o's. You have to be a great coach but this job is so much more than that and BCG did not want that part of the job. Macy wasn't that great of a coach. UK needs the total package and BCG was not it.

Agreed. In another post, I recommended that BCG needs to sit out of Basketball for a year and attemtp to join the media, just to understand the "promotion" side of Basketball.

[Colonel Kill]

I do agree with that. I thought Gillispie did the best he could with this team. He had some bad breaks or we would have been the NCAA but Gillispie didnt understand that UK is not just any other basketball school. I did hear on ESPN that Andy Catz reported Calipari would be interested if offered.

Yea I heard that also. Espn even stated a day or two ago that UK was an elite job and not just anyone could handle the pressure and produce. UCLA's old coach, I have lost his name at the moment but he even said there are elite school like UCLA, UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas and these programs competed for NCAA titles or it was your job as he had experienced. Just look at UNC before Williams that coach did not last very long because he did not produce immediately and then comes coach Williams and puts them back in the national title hunt yearly.

[BlackcatAlum]

BCA - besides your gut feel for whose better, based on the numbers, who has been more successful?

Okay, BCG does have a better track record through a shorter amount of years coached, but BCG began his college coaching career with Bill Self (current Kansas coach) at Illinois, while Ford began his coaching career at Campbellsville. Therefore, BCG hasn't had to have fought his way up the top like Ford has.

Ford has done an amazing coaching job everywhere he has been at lesser tradition schools than BCG. Ford did indeed inherit players he did not recruit at Oklahoma State this season, but went to the big dance with them and atleast got to the second round and had a good season at a lesser program than UK. As BCG inherited two McDonald's AA's and got to the first round and lost to Gardner-Webb and Georgia in the SEC tournament.

Ford is a Kentuckian and understands what will be expected of him and already has all UK fans respect because of his days in the UK uniform.

[Colonel Kill]

Agreed. In another post, I recommended that BCG needs to sit out of Basketball for a year and attemtp to join the media, just to understand the "promotion" side of Basketball.

:Thumbs: I knew we would agree on that. I think he needs to develop that side just not sure he is interested in any improvement. He wants to coach basketball and thats it and at most other programs that will work. I think he is a very knowledgeable coach.

[Stardust]

Okay, BCG does have a better track record through a shorter amount of years coached, but BCG began his college coaching career with Bill Self (current Kansas coach) at Illinois, while Ford began his coaching career at Campbellsville. Therefore, BCG hasn't had to have fought his way up the top like Ford has.

Ford has done an amazing coaching job everywhere he has been at lesser tradition schools than BCG. Ford did indeed inherit players he did not recruit at Oklahoma State this season, but went to the big dance with them and atleast got to the second round and had a good season at a lesser program than UK. As BCG inherited two McDonald's AA's and got to the first round and lost to Gardner-Webb and Georgia in the SEC tournament.

Ford is a Kentuckian and understands what will be expected of him and already has all UK fans respect because of his days in the UK uniform.

Very fair, but BCG, just like my post to ColonelBill, you know that Knowing the "Kentucky Way" will mean nothing if UK is still fighting to get out of the NIT with a new coach. If the decision is made to bring in a 2nd tier guy, he will get eaten alive, no matter what the name on the front of his college jersey was, if he does not win, and win FAST.

Whoever it is, I wish luck to. I want UK to be successful. IMO, with more patience, we may well have got there with BCG. Who knows, it's all conjecture now. But in our Microwave soceity, where we don't want for the soup to cook up nice and thick on the stove top at three times the amount of time, we won't be forgiving of whoever the new coach is if he does not recruit the Blue Chip player, which Ford has never done, or get us to elite status that comes from a pedigreed coach.

[BlackcatAlum]

Very fair, but BCG, just like my post to ColonelBill, you know that Knowing the "Kentucky Way" will mean nothing if UK is still fighting to get out of the NIT with a new coach. If the decision is made to bring in a 2nd tier guy, he will get eaten alive, no matter what the name on the front of his college jersey was, if he does not win, and win FAST.

Whoever it is, I wish luck to. I want UK to be successful. IMO, with more patience, we may well have got there with BCG. Who knows, it's all conjecture now. But in our Microwave soceity, where we don't want for the soup to cook up nice and thick on the stove top at three times the amount of time, we won't be forgiving of whoever the new coach is if he does not recruit the Blue Chip player, which Ford has never done, or get us to elite status that comes from a pedigreed coach.

I can agree with that.

Although Ford is not a proven recruiter, then name Kentucky will help him sign these players as long as he contacts them.

[sstack]

I feel that Travis is putting us in no better of a situation than we just came from. Given time, Travis may be the guy, but seeing how it ended for Tubby and BCG, it would be a bad hire. Travis is less proven than BCG. BCG had a chance to prove himself with his own classes in proven conferences. He proved that he could recruit and he could win, but, he was given the time to build a program.

UK Fans want it NOW! They will turn on Travis, just as they did BCG. It's already been posted before by others, that Travis is no more savvy than BCG. So, from the Fan/Media perspective, it's not like you get anything better. Undestanding the UK tradition does not fly in the new century. So, the challenges that Travil will have as an unknown coach will make the recruiting process no better than what we have seen in the last 9 years. As far as resume? Travis has one in two converences that are not even considered mid-Major. He went to OSU and one with 9 of the teams top 10 players from the previous year, so just like when Tubby took over, Travis did not win with his team.

Don't get me wrong, I like Travis a lot. Is he ready for the fishbowl of UK, un-uh. This would be a "settle-for" hire. Look what that did for BCG.

"putting us in no better of a situation", You are the one that was all for BCG and never stated he did wrong;are you now acting like it was bad?

[Playboy5]

I Want John Calipari..nothing Less!!! He Wants To Come..so I Say We Offer Whatever He Wants!!!!

[Now What]

Very fair, but BCG, just like my post to ColonelBill, you know that Knowing the "Kentucky Way" will mean nothing if UK is still fighting to get out of the NIT with a new coach. If the decision is made to bring in a 2nd tier guy, he will get eaten alive, no matter what the name on the front of his college jersey was, if he does not win, and win FAST.

Whoever it is, I wish luck to. I want UK to be successful. IMO, with more patience, we may well have got there with BCG. Who knows, it's all conjecture now. But in our Microwave soceity, where we don't want for the soup to cook up nice and thick on the stove top at three times the amount of time, we won't be forgiving of whoever the new coach is if he does not recruit the Blue Chip player, which Ford has never done, or get us to elite status that comes from a pedigreed coach.

Its going to take atleast 3-4 years to get this mess heading in the right direction no matter who is hired. IMO I would rather lose with Ford than some of the other choices. As far as Blue Chip players go I would rather have a good floor general like Ford coaching average players(that want to win for PRIDE) than some of the head cases we have now. How many BC players did Rick have before coming to UK?

[BlackcatAlum]

Its going to take atleast 3-4 years to get this mess heading in the right direction no matter who is hired. IMO I would rather lose with Ford than some of the other choices. As far as Blue Chip players go I would rather have a good floor general like Ford coaching average players(that want to win for PRIDE) than some of the head cases we have now. How many BC players did Rick have before coming to UK?

I disagree.

If Calipari is hired, he could bring in #1 recruit John Wall (point guard), and UK could possibly be a championship contender next season with the addition of Wall, Orton, Hood, Pilgrim, etc.