Gillispie

"This is a great day for Kentucky basketball," said Gillispie. "We're fortunate to get a player with Patrick's abilities. He's an outstanding player and a great addition to our roster. "We're grateful he chose to extend his recruitment to the last day of the signing period because it gave us a chance to develop a relationship and that's the most important part of recruiting. Obviously, it was a family decision, and a well thought out one. I'm glad he chose Kentucky. "

LEXINGTON - While Billy Gillispie is proud of the 27 games his Texas A&M team won last season, he was equally proud of another statistic. "Last semester we did not have a player miss a class," said Gillispie, the new University of Kentucky coach. "If they checked classes right, that's got to be a record. "We stress academics daily. Every coach on our staff spends time on academics. When you tell parents their sons will graduate, that is what I mean. You can't be more committed to academics than me. " Gillispie said he talked to one of his former players at Texas A&M Thursday about an English paper and another assignment he had due. "Academics are a major stress for me," Gillispie said.

Billy G. might not be Billy D., but that doesn't mean Kentucky fans should be disappointed about the school's new basketball coach. If Billy Gillispie was the second choice behind Florida's Billy Donovan, so what? Every coach in America today would be the second choice behind Donovan, who just won his second straight national title. However, Kentucky seems to have found a suitable replacement for Tubby Smith in Gillispie, who led Texas A&M to a 27-7 record last year and two wins in the NCAA Tournament in Rupp Arena, including one over Louisville.

LEXINGTON -- When Billy Gillispie was coaching at Texas A&M, he had to play against Kelvin Sampson's team that won the Big 12 championship. Gillispie is now at Kentucky and Sampson is at Indiana. Their teams play Saturday in Bloomington and Gillispie made it clear what a challenge the Wildcats have against the 15th-ranked Hoosiers. "This is the most talented team I have seen him have," said Gillispie. "His teams always seem to perform well at the toughest times. This is the fastest team I have seen him have.

LEXINGTON - Since Billy Gillispie said earlier this season that he liked a team to face adversity early in the season so he could see how players responded, it would seem that the Kentucky coach might have learned some needed lessons then that could help him now. His Wildcats have lost consecutive games to Mississippi and South Carolina after opening Southeastern Conference play with five straight wins. However, Gillispie says it is wrong to assume the Cats are having any kind of adversity now. "Just because you lose does not mean that is adversity.

Billy G. might not be Billy D., but that doesn't mean Kentucky fans should be disappointed about the school's new basketball coach. If Billy Gillispie was the second choice behind Florida's Billy Donovan, so what? Every coach in America today would be the second choice behind Donovan, who just won his second straight national title. However, Kentucky seems to have found a suitable replacement for Tubby Smith in Gillispie, who led Texas A&M to a 27-7 record last year and two wins in the NCAA Tournament in Rupp Arena, including one over Louisville.

LEXINGTON - If Billy Gillispie could, he would spend every day doing something basketball related. "I have a passion for basketball. I like to do just about anything, but I don't get into a whole lot of things other than basketball. I like watching the horses run. I love that, but I don't take a lot of time to do that," the University of Kentucky coach said. "Basketball is my passion. It is also my job, but it is my passion as well. I spend about 23 hours and 50 minutes every day thinking about my passion.

LEXINGTON - The Billy Gillispie era started with a bang. Gillispie made his first appearance as Kentucky coach in front of his new supporters as a record crowd of 23,313 on Friday night at Rupp Arena at Big Blue Madness. Six months of anticipation came to an end as Gillispie and the Wildcats were introduced around 10 p.m. The players arrived straight from the team bus outside the arena and onto the floor as flames shot up from both ends of the floor. The players received a loud ovation as white curtains dropped down from the ceiling at midcourt.

The deconstruction of Gillispie Street last week in Wilmore marks the beginning of the pedestrian mall's construction. Located between North Lexington Avenue and North Walnut Street, Gillispie Street has been officially closed to motor traffic, never to reopen. As the final part of the Wilmore Streetscape Project, the pedestrian mall is slated to be completed by the end of October. There is still construction in the area and along East College Street to Lexington Avenue.  Wilmore city officials are urging drivers to avoid the area if possible.

He no longer plays for Kentucky, but former Wildcat Mark Krebs says one thing has not changed since he last played - senior Darius Miller still remains underrated. “I think he is very underrrated. Then again, his seasons have always been a lot of hype - and he's a great player - but there has been so much hype for him to follow through on and show everybody what I see in practice or what I see in all the pickup games,” Krebs said. And what has he seen from Miller? “This guy is so athletic, this guy is so controlled athletically.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech says it has hired Billy   Gillispie to coach its men's basketball team. School athletics spokesman Blayne Beal said Sunday that Gillispie is the Red Raiders' new coach, with the formal announcement to be Wednesday at a news conference. Gillispie replaces Pat Knight, who was fired earlier this month. In 2009, Kentucky fired Gillispie after the Wildcats went 40-27 in his two seasons and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years.

National columnist Greg Doyel of CBSSports.com has written about Florida State’s easy win over BYU, the reasons Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl must go and closing the locker room to all media in recent days. He’ll be on a live chat Tuesday from 2:30-3 p.m. at vaughtsviews.com to talk about Kentucky football, Kentucky basketball and other college-related subjects. He offers his insights on Kentucky basketball to give you a preview of what Tuesday’s live chat will be like: Question: What is your take on the Enes Kanter eligibility situation?

Kentucky has finally reached a settlement with former basketball coach Billy Gillispie. Kentucky issued this statement tonight: "This agreement, accomplished through a voluntary mediation process, is a fair and final settlement and resolves all litigation between the parties. As a result of this agreement, all legal proceedings by and between the University of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Athletic Association, and Mr. Gillispie will be dismissed. The University will have no further comment on the settlement agreement.

The following was released by the University of Kentucky Tuesday evening: LEXINGTON - The University of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Athletic Association, and Billy Gillispie are pleased to announce that they have executed a settlement agreement. This agreement, accomplished through a voluntary mediation process, is a fair and final settlement and resolves all litigation between the parties. To see a pdf of the settlement agreement, click here . As a result of this agreement, all legal proceedings by and between the University of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky Athletic Association, and Mr. Gillispie will be dismissed.

WLEX-TV reported on its Web site early this morning that former University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie was arrested early today in Anderson County. According to WLEX's report, Lawrenceburg police said Gillispie was pulled over in a white 2009 Mercedes with Texas tags around 2:45 a.m. on U.S. 127 after someone reported seeing the car driving erratically. Gillispie was arrested and charged with DUI. Police said a passenger, 42-year-old Charles O'Conner was also arrested and charged with alcohol intoxication, the site said.

Billy Gillispie, where have you been? As it turns out, the former University of Kentucky men's basketball coach was in Kentucky Wednesday and spent most of his night at the Franklin County jail after being arrested for allegedly driving under the influence around 2:45 a.m. this morning. A television station ? WLEX-TV Channel 18 in Lexington ? has footage of Gillispie being escorted away in a police cruiser. The incident came hours after Rick Pitino, a former Kentucky coach himself, lashed out at the media during a press conference Wednesday in Louisville.

Former University of Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie was arrested and charged with DUI around 2:45 a.m. this morning on U.S. 127 in Anderson County, WLEX-TV Channel 18 in Lexington is reporting this morning. Gillispie and a friend ? 42-year-old Charles O'Connor ? are being held in the Franklin County jail, according to the station, which has video of Gillispie being handcuffed and sent to jail. According to the report, Gillispie told officers he had been playing golf. Apparently a driver called 911 and reported to dispatchers that a 2009 Mercedes with Texas plates was swerving on the roadway.