The Day Billy Gillispie's Honeymoon Died at Kentucky

It’s raining beer bottles in Lexington.

Or at least that’s the weather that greeted Kentucky coach/god Billy Clyde Gillispie near the tunnel exiting Rupp Arena, where his Wildcats dropped a 90-85 decision on Wednesday night. To Georgia.

That’s right—the all-time winningest program in college basketball (until North Carolina takes their mantle in the next five years), which was supposed to start making strides under the Bluegrass’ anointed savior, lost at home to the worst team in the Southeastern Conference. Who are coached by an interim guy. Who’ve lost 13 of their last 15. In one of the worst years in recent SEC memory. On Senior Night.

Yes, the storied program that led the SEC East through January has now lost seven of its last 10 and four of its last five games. Things are unraveling quickly in Big Blue country, and public opinion, for the first time in his time leading UK, has finally turned on Gillispie, once now if not for all.

Yeah, this is the same guy who lost to Gardner-Webb, an Atlantic Sun afterthought, during his first year at the helm. Who lost his first game this year in a 111-103 decision to VMI. Who has gotten owned by Louisville since his arrival. Who lost by 41 points to Vanderbilt last year (an outcome that could’ve been even worse).

And yet, most dyed-in-the-wool denizens of the Rupp Rafters (either the actual upper deck or the CatsPause.com forum) didn’t begrudge him these losses. Why? Three words: Orlando “Tubby” Smith.

The same coach who won a national championship in his first year at the helm (1998) became the most reviled coach in ‘Cat Country since at least Eddie Sutton. Why? Because he didn’t win more national championships. In fact, but to every true Blue’s chagrin, he didn’t even reach another Final Four! You expect fans of the winningest program in college basketball to savor Elite Eights??!

More than any other nail in the coffin, though, was the fact that Tubby’s recruiting kept tapering off. His last-gasp heralded recruiting class came in 2004, when he picked up three five-star players in Joe Crawford, Randolph Morris, and Rajon Rondo, a nice Western Kentucky transfer in Patrick Sparks, and another eventual star in Ramel Bradley.

While this recruiting class bought Tubby a grace period with fans, its overall ineffectiveness (at least immediately) to produce big-time wins eventually sealed Smith’s exile route to Minnesota. Rondo left after two successful-but-star-crossed years for the NBA Lottery, Morris left for the pros before his junior year was even complete, and Crawford and Bradley stuck around long enough to help Billy Clyde turn it around at the end of Year One.

Ironically, Gillispie’s two seasons thus far have almost been mirror opposites of each other. After losing five of his first nine inaugural games at the helm and two of his first three SEC games last season, the Wildcats won 11 of their next 13 games to clinch a 12-4 SEC record, a SEC No. 2 seed, and a bye in the SEC Tournament. Seniors Crawford and Bradley were on fire for the ‘Cats before losing in the NCAA first round to Marquette.

Going into this season, super soph forward Patrick Patterson was regarded as one of the front-runners for SEC Player of the Year. Instead, that distinction has gone to junior guard Jodie Meeks, who has been on a tear unlike anything Kentucky has seen in recent years. Meeks leads the SEC in scoring at a 25.1 ppg clip, including a program-record 54 points against Tennessee Jan. 13. Patterson has also chipped in 18.6 ppg.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?