Billy Gillispie, head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats the past two seasons, has been fired by the program after their NIT loss to Notre Dame. Gillispie went 40-27 in two seasons with the Wildcats. Kentucky went 22-14 this season, tied for the second-most losses in the program's 106-year history, and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.
The athletic director for Kentucky said the school did not plan to pay Gillispie a $6 million buyout that was to be part of his never completed seven-year deal. Gillispie never signed the long-term contract, and he said the school would abide by the memorandum of understanding, which he considered a year-to-year contract. Gillispie made $2.3 million annually. Gillispie coached at Texas A&M before arriving at Kentucky. He left Texas A&M for Kentucky so he could turn around an established program that was struggling. It didn't happen and now he's out after two years.
In my opinion, I am not a big fan of schools firing coaches after just two years. It doesn't give the coaches the chance to coach their recruits for all four of their years. Gillispie is not being given a chance to prove that his recruits are solid and can win basketball games. The university said he was only concerned about basketball and not the school itself, but I find that hard to believe. I believe the school is so accustomed to winning and are spoiled rotten by winning. They couldn't get it done the past two seasons. This year, they couldn't even make the NCAA Tournament. I think that was the main reason they fired him and they deserve to struggle in the future.
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