The State of UK Basketball | Blonde Bomber's Blog

I looked so forward to this year's edition of UK basketball. After ten, tumultuous Tubby years I was elated to see what a coach of Billy Gillispies' recruiting calibre might do to resurrect the program. He's definitely brought the excitement, and also the most embarrassing moment in the loss to Gardner-Webb. This isn't like losing to Butler or Winthrop, two teams with NCAA tourney resumes. This isn't even Michigan-Appalachian State. While I am certainly not proclaiming we've reached the bottom (I don't think the program was ever that far down even with the last three seasons) I do think it ought to be open for examination. Have we lost the luster of the 90's. Are we capable of reaching the pinnacle of the college world again? Will the top recruits want to come play in this environment, heavy on criticism and heavy on rock-star status?

The answer is a resounding YES! Positively speaking, coach G has brought in better talent his first year than Tubby has in the last 7 years combined. He took a basketball school (Texas A&M) deep into the post-season and made NBA star quality out of Acie Law. No reason to think he won't do the same here.

When Tubby walked, my first thought was we need to go after Billy. And it wasn't Donovan, honest. I felt like Coach G was a better fit for our program. I think he will out recruit and out work everyone else to raise the program back to elite status. As the 2007-08 team learns and develops team play together, I believe all Big Blue Nation will see the change in basketball culture around the bluegrass.

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December 9, 2007 04:33 AM ET

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I think it's important to remember that the first few years between coaches are going to be hectic. A very rare exception would be Tubby's first year, which featured players who played together in the previous two NCAA championships. This is not going to be a stress-free year for UK, but Gillespie's recruiting is going to start bringing in more solid players who (hopefully) are going to want to stay for more than a year or two. Patterson has proven to be good, but no one expects him to stick around. I just hope Gillespie recruits players that aren't thinking NBA, but rather college degree. It's not explosive freshman that win championships, but solid veterans with experience playing with each other.

With regards to Legion: He should stay. He's a freshman, and he is going to get better. I hope he realizes that gratiification isn't instant, and will stick it out so he can shine in his later seasons.