[FOX SPORTS]

http://www.ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&..._well_id=2

Here is the link...UK will announce it's new Head Basketball coach at 12:45 press conference today.

Speculation is that it is Billy Gillespie from Texas A&M

[Coach_Owens87]

This is the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning. They broke away from a show to announce this on WKYT. I'm so Glad it's Gillispie I just couldn't see myself getting excited over any of the other candidates.

[CatDawg]

OK I was up until 3:30 most A&M fans had accepted it at that time. They kept saying that Jordan had stated he would go with coach Billy G. I didn't want to rub it in to them by asking about Jordan but does anyone have any info on him?

[Batpuff]

Who is this guy anyways. This year was the first i ever heard of him. What kind of recruiter is he, will he bring in Patterson or Lucas?

[Armchair QB]

http://www.aggieathletics.com/coaches.ph...BB&CID=147 Here is the link to his bio. You might note when reading it that he used to work for Hal Mumme.

[NYY10]

Do you think they will have this on TV..if so what Channel

[Batpuff]

Oh I am sure that ESPN, WKYT and WLEX will cover it.

[rallo316]

I think billy g will be a good hire.

[Batpuff]

I bet you anything that MB never had the intentions on hiring Billy D or Rick Barnes, you since he and the AD at Texas AM are pretty good friends, he knew he could get Billy G

[rallo316]

yeah i got that feeling to he did not want Billy D if that is case we should fire mitch release the fury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Batpuff]

Kentucky has announced it will hold "a pep rally and a press conference" Friday afternoon to announce the hiring of the program's 21st head coach. And according to a source at Kentucky, Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie is the man the Wildcats will introduce to Big Blue Nation.

[Image: http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/040...e2_195.jpg]
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Here's Billy Gillispie at Rupp Arena during this year's NCAA Tournament, celebrating a win over Louisville -- and even wearing a blue tie. Now Kentucky will pay him to do all those things.


Kentucky honed in on Gillispie to replace Tubby Smith at the end of a whirlwind Thursday that began with a rebuff from Florida's Billy Donovan and included Texas coach Rick Barnes withdrawing his name from consideration. Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart asked for and received permission to talk to Gillispie on Thursday night, according to Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne.
"Coach Gillispie is one of the top coaches in the country, and we certainly do not want to lose him," Byrne said in a statement released by the school Thursday night. "At the same time, I don't want to stand in the way of anyone in the department who wants to explore another option if he or she feels it's in his best interest."
Gillispie was supposed to be en route Friday to Los Angeles for the John Wooden Award celebration Saturday. The Aggies' Acie Law IV is one of five finalists.
A source close to Gillispie told ESPN.com late Thursday night that Gillispie would accept the Kentucky job if it is offered.
Gillispie recently agreed to a lucrative contract extension with A&M after being wooed by Arkansas, but he did not sign the deal. According to one report at the time A&M and Gillispie verbally agreed to to the extension, the new deal was going to pay the coach about $2 million annually, making him the highest paid of his Big 12 peers.
His name had been on the "B" list of candidates from the beginning at Kentucky after Smith unexpectedly resigned March 22 to take the job at Minnesota.

Kentucky's clear first choice was Donovan, who would not consider the job until after his Florida Gators won the national title Monday night. Thursday morning, Donovan met with Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, and the school announced around noon that Donovan would remain in Gainesville.
Later Thursday afternoon, speculation moved to Barnes as Kentucky's top choice. But by early evening he had withdrawn his name, saying he would stay at Texas. Sources have given conflicting information about whether Barnes decided he was not interested on his own, or if he learned that he was not at the top of Kentucky's list.
Gillispie has worked a swift makeover at Texas A&M, going 70-26 in three seasons at a school that had little history of success. The 2006-07 Aggies went 27-7, earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reaching the Sweet 16. It was the school's first Sweet 16 birth since 1980.
Prior to that, Gillispie was the head coach at UTEP for two years, and he previously worked as the lead assistant to Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois.
Other names believed to be on the Kentucky list were Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Marquette's Tom Crean.
Barnhart and Byrne have a long history together. Barnhart worked under Byrne at Oregon in 1983 and considers him something of a mentor. Byrne's son, Greg, worked under Barnhart at Kentucky for a couple of years, and Bill Byrne helped facilitate the hiring of former Oregon coach Rich Brooks as the UK football coach in 2002, after Barnhart had struck out on several other candidates.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at [email=ESPN4D@aol.com]ESPN4D@aol.com[/email]. ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz contributed to this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2827764

[Batpuff]

Free live streaming video will be available for the press conference at approximately 12:45.


@ http://www.ukathletics.com

[FOX SPORTS]

Gillisopie's last three recruiting classes have been in the top 3 in the country.

[CatDawg]

Does anyone have any info on the Jordan kid that said he would follow Billy G?

[Batpuff]

Cat I never heard of him.

[BlackcatAlum]

I read alot of info about Billy Gillispie last night. He is divorced with no kids. So no offcourt distractions. And the reason his wife left him is because he was to basketball oriented. Plus, during one month he only ate peanut butter and crakers, and had nothing in his refrigerator, because he stayed up watching game film. Now this is the kind of hard working guy we needed at Kentucky.

According to BlakcatFootball, Five Star Texas A&M recruit DeAndre Jordan said that he'd leave A&M for UK if Gillispie took the job.

[CAM2006]

I think that Gillespie will be great for UK. Also here is a link to DeAndre Jordan

http://kentucky.rivals.com/viewprospect....41&Sport=2

[thecavemaster]

The more I learn about Gillespie, the more
excited I am. He is, basically, a basketball
junkie type coach, like a Majerus. Most
coaches have other guys do their tape
viewing and game preparation; Billy G.
does it himself. On Cold Pizza this
morning, Skip said that several NBA scouts
he's talked to who know the college game
say that Gillespie is as good as anybody at
making adjustments in games. I think UK and
all us fans may have a REAL winner here.

[corndog23]

Does anyone have any info on the Jordan kid that said he would follow Billy G?

#2 or 3 best center in the class. Honestly CD, if he follows BG to Lexington...Everybody and their mama will be saying Patrick Who??????

[ComfortEagle]

I think it's obvious we're getting Gillispie.

[BCF4L]

The thing I am most concerned about is if you look at his roster from Texas A&M, 21 of 23 players were from Texas. Now I understand Texas has a higher overall talent pool in basketball than Kentucky, but can we afford to have him recruit all players from right here in the bluegrass? His 2 other players on the roster were from outside the US. Maybe it was just a coincidence that this happened, but his 2 rivals.com top 150 recruits for this year (Jordan and Walkup) are both from Texas. Anyone else concerned about this?

[rallo316]

i would like to say to Billy G and Mr. Jordan welcome to Rupp Arena for basketball action.

[BC75]

Its on Big Blue Coverage right now Billy Clyde Gillispie is named the new head coach.

[allthewayhome]

The thing I am most concerned about is if you look at his roster from Texas A&M, 21 of 23 players were from Texas. Now I understand Texas has a higher overall talent pool in basketball than Kentucky, but can we afford to have him recruit all players from right here in the bluegrass? His 2 other players on the roster were from outside the US. Maybe it was just a coincidence that this happened, but his 2 rivals.com top 150 recruits for this year (Jordan and Walkup) are both from Texas. Anyone else concerned about this?

Im not, he is a good enough of a coach to were he will realize this(or at least i think) but i actually hopes he recuirts some kentucky boys, unlike tubby did.

[jammin' jamey]

The thing I am most concerned about is if you look at his roster from Texas A&M, 21 of 23 players were from Texas. Now I understand Texas has a higher overall talent pool in basketball than Kentucky, but can we afford to have him recruit all players from right here in the bluegrass? His 2 other players on the roster were from outside the US. Maybe it was just a coincidence that this happened, but his 2 rivals.com top 150 recruits for this year (Jordan and Walkup) are both from Texas. Anyone else concerned about this?

I would suggest he had to stay within the state of Texas because A&M is not a national power when it comes to recruiting. Plus, he had strong ties in Texas due to coaching at UTEP.

To his credit, he has found some solid players within the school's reach and took them to the Sweet 16 this season after the team was winless in the Big 12 some 3 seasons ago.

[OffTheHook]

Nice to see some young fire in the seat now. It's on WYMT now.

[jammin' jamey]

He says he want to be the aggressor on both ends of the floor. I like it.

[jammin' jamey]

He's already defeated Rick Pitino and is 2-0 at Rupp Arena in his coaching career.

[Rim Wrecker]

I think we got the RIGHT Billy. This one WANTED to be here. I think the other Billy just used the Big BLue Nation to for his own gain. From this point I refuse to metion the other Billy's name. Billy G wanted to be here so bad that he didn't even sign his extension with A&M that was worth 1.7 million for eight years. It also had incentives of over 1.75 million above the salary. WE got the RIGHT GUY. GO COACH GILLISPIE.

[THUNDERCHILD]

He says he want to be the aggressor on both ends of the floor. I like it.

Ya I like that idea too.