John Clay's Sidelines

When it comes to college basketball on television, it’s former Kentucky coach night. At 7 p.m., you can tune in and find out if Rick Pitino has enough healthy bodies to put on the floor for Louisville to play Villanova. At 8:30, watch Tubby Smith and his Minnesota Gophers attempt to survive the Izzone. Then at 9 p.m., watch Billy Gillispie continue his search for his first Big 12 win at Texas Tech.

If ESPN’s 30 for 30 would do an Eddie Sutton documentary, the night would be set.

Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie is giving away turkeys for the holidays.

Note: This is an auto-start video, which I can’t figure out how to turn off. So I’m putting the video after the jump.

Click the continue line to see the video.

Continue reading ‘Video: Billy Gillispie giving away turkeys for the holidays’

(H-L photo)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• A source close to prized recruit Jarnell Stokes believes the forward from Memphis will enroll at Tennessee in January, reports Zagsblog. Kentucky is one of the six schools Stokes is reportedly considering.
• Alex Poythress continues to tear it up for his high school team, reports the Leaf Chronicle. The UK signee is averaging 30 points and 16 rebounds per game so far this season.
• On CoachCal.com, the Kentucky coach gives his five keys to building a culture of success. First, he starts with his players first motto. He says that means creating a family.
• As a follow to that, Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue digs deeper to see if this year’s team is following those five keys to building success.
• Good news on the television front: Insight will carry Saturday’s Kentucky-Chattanooga game, says a Herald-Leader report. The game is to be carried by Comcast, which is unavailable in Lexington.
• Twany Beckham will be eligible to play in Saturday night’s game for Kentucky, reports Mary Jo Perino of WLEX-TV. The Louisville native transfer at mid-year last season from Mississippi State.
• Darnell Dodson could be in uniform for Southern Miss, reports Al Jones of the Biloxi Sun-Herald. You remember Dodson, played at Kentucky two years ago?

Some guys never learn, and it looks like Billy Gillispie is one of those guys.

The former Kentucky coach was notorious for not getting along with people during his two-year blip in Lexington.

Now, according to the web site Sports By Brooks, the same thing is happening in his new job at Texas Tech.

Since Gillispie was named Texas Tech coach four months ago, several basketball staffers have left the program. Included in those defections is well-respected Red Raider trainer Jon Murray, whose 13-year Tech tenure included the Bob and Pat Knight years.

Continue reading ‘Apparently Billy Gillispie didn’t learn his lesson’

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Nashville hoops star Alex Poythress talks about offer he received from Kentucky
• Billy Gillispie one of several coaches who invested with man now found dead
• Sea of Blue is trying to choose the best UK small forward since 1977
• Ira Combs offers some sizzling summer storylines for Kentucky
• DeMarcus Cousins will hold a summer camp in Georgetown
• Micah Johnson wants to make Big Blue Nation proud
• Kentucky will be searching for depth at running back come fall
• Former UK player Ramon Harris suffers a knee injury overseas
• Mark Krebs says John Calipari the best coach you could have
• Joker Phillips says the best players don’t always win championships

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• A whirlwind week lands Tony Delk at New Mexico State
• Calipari congratulates Delk on his move to the Aggies
• Billy Gillispie invested in illegal Ponzi scheme
  • (h/t Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog)
• Darius Miller eager to do his part in upcoming season
• Chris Walker tells Nation of Blue he likes everything about Kentucky
• Shabazz Muhammad climbs to No. 1 in Rivals rankings for 2012
• John Wall and Shelvin Mack altering summer plans because of lockout
• NOB talks to new UK football commit Darone Bailey
• Bleed Blue Kentucky is spreading rumors (click at your own risk)
• Big Blue Blog was not all that crazy about the new UK football uniforms

T.C. Drake

I’m back from furlough, by the way. So in UK news, former tight end T.C. Drake is still recovering from a serious motorcyle accident in Bardstown. Top basketball prospect Andre Drummond denies that he will reclassify for the Class of 2011. In surprising news, former UK guard Derrick Jasper will join former UK coach Billy Gillispie’s staff at Texas Tech. This is the same Jasper who transferred from UK when Gillispie was coach. And John Calipari lashes back at his critics with a late night tweet.

Click on the continue line to get today’s Big Blue Links.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Drummond to stay in 2012; Jasper to join Gillispie’

(AP photo/Ed Reinke)

Almost on cue, Jason King of Yahoo Sports has a long profile of Billy Gillispie today.

That’s just one day after Texas Tech fired Pat Knight as basketball coach, leading to speculation that Gillispie would be the next coach in Lubbock.

King talked to Gillispie for two hours last week in Allen Fieldhouse, where Gillispie had come to see his old boss, Bill Self.

An exceprt:

Looking closer to 41 than 51, Gillispie hardly resembles the puffy-cheeked man whose police mug shot was plastered on the front of newspapers across Kentucky 18 months ago. His face is thinner, his eyes sparkle and his voice booms with energy as he talks about the satisfaction he’s received from working with charitable organizations such as MADD and Big Brothers Big Sisters the past few months.

Ask him about his legal issues and Gillispie hardly bristles. Even though therapists in the Houston rehabilitation center run by former NBA coach John Lucas concluded he didn’t have a problem with alcohol – “He had a problem making good decisions when he was around alcohol, big difference,” Lucas said – Gillispie has decided to quit drinking.

“I don’t need it,” Gillispie said. “I didn’t need it before, either. I just decided not to do it anymore.”

Leron Black

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• John Calipari goes to Memphis to check out Leron Black, reports Pete Wickham of the Commercial Appeal.
• Brandon Knight receives high praise from Kevin Stallings, reports Jerry Tipton of the H-L.
• Knight is among the SEC Player of the Year candidates, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• Cats are growing up at just the right time, writes Tom Leach.
• Darius Miller is on a six-game roll, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• UK women move on from a bittersweet SEC Tournament, writes T.J. Walker of the Kentucky Kernel.
• As predicted, the Cats did a reboot down the stretch, writes Ira Combs for Kentucky Sports Network.
• Texas Tech should at least talk to Billy Gillispie, says Mike Jones of the Ft. Worth Star.
• Odd timing of firing may work in Texas Tech’s favor, writes Jon Arnold of the Daily Toreador.
• Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Cats and the Cards projected as No. 4 seeds.
• Rivals rates Michael Gilchrist as the No. 1 interior scorer. (Hat tip All Ky Hoops)

(AP photo)

As soon as word came today that Texas Tech had fired Pat Knight, you knew the first name to pop up as a possible replacement would be Billy Gillispie.

It makes almost too much sense.

Before his two-year failure at Kentucky, Gillispie enjoyed success at UTEP and Texas A&M.

He is from Texas, and knows Texas high schools well.

He loves Bob Knight, the sport’s all-time winningest coach who was in Lubbock for his final years as a head coach.

The question that has to be answered is whether Gillispie is ready to return? Did he learn from his mistakes in Lexington? Does he have his personal affairs in order after an embarrassing DUI in the state after he was no longer coach? Did he put his time away from coaching to good use?

I thought all along that Lubbock would be where Billy G. ended up. If the answers to those questions are yes, then I can’t think of a better fit.