Despite a report by WHAS, the Louisville ABC affiliate, that Billy Gillispie had been fired, Kentucky officials say it’s not true.
“UK men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie has not been fired. There have been no meetings between Gillispie and UK officials today and there is no scheduled press conference for [Friday],” the university said in a statement.
If Gillispie ends up leaving, look for Kentucky to target Billy Donovan of Florida and John Calipari of Memphis to replace him. Jay Wright of Villanova and Rick Barnes of Texas were also mentioned as possibilities by Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News.
Under Gillispie, Kentucky had 14 losses this season, tied for the second-most in school history. The Wildcats snapped a streak of 17 straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and did not appear in the SEC semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1990-91.
Kentucky’s season ended at the hands of Notre Dame in the NIT quarterfinals.
