25 worst coaching hires in the history of college basketball

18 of 25

LEXINGTON, KY – NOVEMBER 03: Head coach Billy Gillispie of the Kentucky Wildcats watches the action from the sidelines during the game against the Missouri-St.Louis Tritons at Rupp Arena on November 3, 2008 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

8. Billy Gillispie – Kentucky (2007-2009)

40-27 record (2 seasons)

When you’re a Blue Blood program like Kentucky, success is expected, not in a few years but immediately. The Wildcats haven’t been a superpower for their entire history, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find long stretches where Kentucky isn’t among the best teams in the land. Tubby Smith led the Wildcats to a national title in 1998, but nearly a decade later it was time for a change, leaving the Wildcats to make a hire that wouldn’t quite turn out as expected.

Billy Gillispie had been around and he had achieved some very good success in recent years. A native Texan, he was a solid high school coach before spending nearly a decade as a D1 assistant, including five years under Bill Self. As a head coach, he led a giant turnaround in two years at UTEP before building success at Texas A&M, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2007. Gillispie was in a great situation with the Aggies, but accepted the step up and added challenge of Kentucky.

Unfortunately, he didn’t endear himself to the program, and it only took two years for the Wildcats to run him out of town. His record of 40-27 wasn’t awful, but it just wasn’t Kentucky, with his second team breaking a 17-year NCAA Tournament streak. Gillispie’s relationship with fans, players, and the administration was rough at best, and it may be little surprise that there were allegations of player mistreatment at his job at Texas Tech. Meanwhile, Kentucky is clearly prospering again under successor John Calipari.