[jetpilot]

Thats true. He was not media friendly at all. The biggest difference between Gillispie and Pitino is that Slick Rick was a master of manipulation and a media darling. He was just as tough if not tougher on his players. Unlike Gillispie though, Pitino knew and still does know how to sell it to his players and the media.


I'm not saying I think Gillispie is as good of a coach as Pitino either before anybody takes it that way. Only making a comparison in how demanding they were on the players. Pitino would lay out a stream of profanity that would make a longshoreman blush. He would work his players to death, himilate them at times and build them back up before they knew what hit them. At that Pitino is the man. He has the charm of a prince and the heart of Dracula. Gillispie unfortunately was not blessed with that gift. Usually what he said was on the money but he always said it in a way to where it just ticked people off. He is to the coaching profession what George W. Bush was to the office of the president of the United States.

Mark Story said in the HL today that Gillispie "did not have a poor relationship with the vast majority of the Kentucky news media,"
that he "never one time saw Gillispie be abusive toward a member of the local media corps," and that "Rick Pitino was harsh toward more reporters in almost any week from his UK tenure than Gillispie was in two years."

The media thing is way overblown, as is the "abuse" of players.