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Gillispie's honeymoon in Lexington over
Kentucky coach aware of fans’ discontent, with Wilcats likely to miss NCAAs
CommentsBilly Gillispie has a stock answer when the subject comes up. Yes, the coach is aware the Kentucky faithful are over their initial lovefest with him.
“I said this yesterday: I got married one time, and that honeymoon didn’t last long either,” Gillispie said. “For me as a basketball coach, I couldn’t care less about a honeymoon.”
Tubby Smith, the man who preceded Gillispie, fled for Minnesota under pressure two years ago, with fans perceiving a slip in the program. But Smith went to the NCAA tournament each season, which Gillispie apparently will not do in his second at Kentucky.
Barring a huge surprise from the selection committee, the Wildcats will miss out for the first time since 1991, when they were ineligible because of NCAA sanctions.
Kentucky’s NIT invitation was probably ensured with its loss to LSU on Friday. Asked to reflect on his team’s season, Gillispie pointed to the difference in experience between the two teams.
“Anyone who knows me knows I’m not an excuse-maker. But one team looked like they had six of the top seven guys that were seniors or four-year guys, and one team looked like they didn’t have any seniors that played,” Gillispie said. “We’ve got some guys that logged a lot of minutes, but still they’re sophomore and freshmen and those kinds of things. Our team is not far away from being really, really, really special.”
That might change if junior guard Jodie Meeks, the SEC leading scorer, and sophomore center Patrick Patterson elect to go pro.
Shot-veering Varnado. Jarvis Varnado’s six blocks against USC put him six away from breaking the SEC single-season record of 157, which he already shares with Shaquille O’Neal.
O’Neal holds the SEC career record with 412, and Varnado, who has 376, would likely break that too if he stays around. Mississippi State is also pushing Varnado as a candidate to set the NCAA record, held by Wojciech Mydra, who blocked 535 at Louisiana-Monroe from 1998-2002.
East vs. West. Perhaps Mississippi State’s win against South Carolina should not have been that much of a surprise. It was only the latest by a West team against the East.
Normally the East has dominated the series, but this year it was an 18-18 split in the regular season. It was the first time since 1999 that the East had not won more head-to-head games.
The East won the matchup 23-13 last year, and 24-12 the year before.
Tampa turnstiles. Attendance at the St. Pete Times Forum gradually improved for the first three sessions. The afternoon turnout was announced at 13,306, bringing the average to 12,176 before Friday’s evening session.
But with Kentucky eliminated and its droves of fans probably headed home, a dip seems inevitable.
Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.
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