Mitch Barnhart with Nasty Words for Billy Gillispie

As most expected, Kentucky today announced that it will not retain Billy Gillispie next season. What WAS surprising, though, was Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s words regarding the situation: “Kentucky fans deserve a coach who understands that Kentucky isn’t just another coaching job.”

Harsh, man…harsh. Certainly seems to be some bad blood here.

So, of course this leaves a huge number of questions up in the air. Who is a possibility? Who isn’t? Billy Donovan of Florida has repeatdedly been quoted as listing Kentucky as his “dream job”, but released a statement today that he was not a candidate for the position.

VCU’s Anthony Grant has been a hot commodity on the coaching market, but reportedly has been confirmed as the new coach at Alabama.

The main name that I’ve heard is John Calipari of Memphis, whom is a decent/good recruiter but not much of a floor coach…much in the mold of Gillispie, in my opinion. One other name that has been mentioned is Oklahoma State’s Travis Ford.

Interesting stuff!