Adams: Building Big Blue big challenge for Gillispie

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - After one interview session, I'm not ready to write the definitive piece on new Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie. But I do know who will play him in the movie.

Gary Sinise is perfect for the part. In fact, the resemblance between the coach and the actor is the first thing I noticed about Gillispie.

Sinise also has the experience for the role. In "Ransom," he played a corrupt cop. If you can play a corrupt cop, you can play a college basketball recruiter.

So we've got the actor. All we need is the movie.

That's up to Gillispie.

You don't make a movie about a coach who takes Texas A&M to the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Nor do you make a movie about the basketball coach at UTEP, even if Gillispie's program did go from 6-24 to 24-8 in one year.

But Kentucky basketball is big enough for the big screen, provided, of course, Gillispie can win enough championships. It's a big challenge, but Kentucky coaches have overcome challenges before.

Rick Pitino took over a Kentucky program on NCAA probation and returned it to national-championship prominence.

Gillispie's challenge is different. It has more to do with the competition than the Wildcats.

Florida coach Billy Donovan has just won back-to-back national titles. Not even Pitino did that at Kentucky.

Never mind that this is a rebuilding year at Florida. Donovan has proved himself as both a recruiter and coach. Before Kentucky can win another national title, it will have to figure out a way to win the SEC East.

Tennessee poses another problem for Kentucky. Not only does it have the SEC's most talented team this season, it has Bruce Pearl, who, after his whirlwind transformation of UT basketball, qualifies as a hotter coaching item than Gillispie.

You could see at SEC basketball media days that Gillispie is no Pearl. He doesn't have to be.

Pearl wows the media and works a room as though he's in the final hours of an election that experts have tabbed "too close to call." But it's not work for him. That's just his personality.

You don't have to cultivate the media when you're the basketball coach at Kentucky. And you don't have to promote your program. Kentucky basketball was promoting itself before its new coach was born.

Gillispie was amicable enough, low-key, and direct with the media. He wasn't trying to sell himself or his program, but he didn't seem annoyed by the process, either. The native Texan's "country charm" that I've read about didn't really come across, but surely that can be turned on in the presence of recruits' parents.

His head-coaching track record offers more insight than a brief interview. First, there was the sudden turnaround at UTEP. Then came the steady improvement at Texas A&M, where his teams went 21-10, 22-9 and 27-7 in three years.

He hit the ground recruiting at Kentucky, signing two high school All-Americans, including power forward Patrick Patterson, who finally chose Kentucky over Florida.

"The reason Patrick coming to our place was such a big deal was that we had such a need and he fills that need," Gillispie said of a team that lacks proven post players.

Gillispie's futuristic approach to recruiting has been just as significant as any signee. He has a commitment from a high school sophomore. That appeals to the Kentucky fans who became more and more critical of former coach Tubby Smith's recruiting.

"There is some gamble involved (in recruiting younger players)," Gillispie said. "But it also helps you when you're right in your evaluation.

"It's very, very competitive for these young players. So I think you have to do it that way."

Gillispie's way will be the right way as long as it produces a national championship.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.