The Harassment of Billy Gillispie by that Coward the NABC
Posted by rtmsf on September 30th, 2008For the second time since last spring’s Mario Miracle, the NABC has put out a statement that squarely fixes its crosshairs on Kentucky’s second-year coach, Billy Gillispie. Certainly you remember the June directive the NABC made to stop recruiting junior high players in the wake of the media firestorm over Gillispie’s recruiting of 8th grader Michael Avery. We wrote at the time:
Luckily, this may be a situation where coaches were doing it because they felt they needed to avoid a competitive disadvantage. Now that the NABC has effectively disavowed this as a strategy (although it is still legal), coaches [including Gillispie] appear to be supportive of the line-drawing.
(Ed Note: apparently another Billy, as in Billy Donovan, didn’t get that memo from the NABC.)
Andy Katz now reports on his blog today that the NABC put forth a new statement yesterday that admonishes coaches for using their early autumn ‘skill development’ time (2 hours/week) prior to full practices for recruiting purposes. More specifically, they don’t want schools to bump up their Midnight Madness festivities to a preceding weekend so as to take advantage of a more favorable recruiting scenario (i.e., big football game on campus, local stripper convention, the fact that nobody else is having Midnight Madness that weekend). Why is this important now? Because Kentucky and Illinois (with its gimmicky outdoor practice) are planning on having their Midnight Madnesses a week prior to the ‘official’ start of practice. The NABC statement (via Katz):
The NABC board of directors said that “skill development events should not be open to the public.” The NABC said the initial intent was for coaches to assist their players in skill development and create stronger relationships. But by “making such skill development sessions public events, they appear to be geared more for recruiting than skill development sessions.”
Coach Gillispie, godlovehim, just cannot resist pushing the envelope when it comes to the NCAA rulebook. We’re not saying that he’s breaking any rules – hell, we’re not even saying that he’s bending them – but like any fastidious attorney, he manages to consistently find the gray nether-regions where legislative intent meets bright-line rule, and he forces those in charge to make decisions.
Bring It On, NABC! (photo credit: AP/Ed Reinke)
Our take on these early Midnight Madness celebrations is such: we tend to like orderliness when it comes to college hoops, as in… we’d like to know with assurance when Opening Night will be or when the Final Four will be. So we’re 100% in agreement with the NABC on this one – can’t we just all agree to have Midnight Madness on the same night, and preferably, AT MIDNIGHT? If the NCAA has to mandate this, so be it – add another page to the 17-lb rulebook.
Update (10/1): Jeff Goodman weighs in with this background information about the NABC:
Word is that there were numerous coaches on a conference call who were less than thrilled with Gillispie’s decision. They feel that the NCAA allows the coaches the two hours per week for skill development and Gillispie is taking advantage of the rule. It was the unanimous decision of the Board that skill development events should not be open to the public.
It’s guys like Gillespie and Donovan that make the NCAA rulebook 17 pounds.
“It’s guys like Gillespie and Donovan that make the NCAA rulebook 17 pounds”
Yeah, definitely not guys like Roy, who’ve been up to the same tricks for 15+ years. Roy would never get his team together for practices during the “no contact” period to show off the team before a presidential candidate, get NBA players to “show up” for pickup games when recruits “happen” to be in town, or suggest that alums could send gifts to graduating players. Yup, its Gillespie, Donovan, and these new whippersnappers that are the ones bending the rules, dadgummit.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8586946
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/no_sanctions_for_unc_on_obama_game
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/709830.html
I would rather have a coach push the envelope than cry everytime something doesn’t go the way he wants it. The NCAA strokes Roy to keep him happy. Have fun playing all your tourney games at home and still not winning another title.
The only one’s POed about Gillispie moving up the date of Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness are the one’s that were not smart enough to take advantage of the situation themselves.
Yes Tarheel,not that Roy Williams has ever had any NCAA violations or crossed any recruiting lines now has he?
Its people like Tar Heel Fan in Minny that make me wanna throw up. He’s not breaking any rules so i dont see what the problem is. I guess it’s wrong now for a coach to want to help his team win. Your just another ACC fan that wants to put down the SEC and it’s coaches simply because we’re better than you.
There’s a stripper convention in town next weekend? I’ve got to find out more about that.
I love it! The whole country understands that Gilispie has woke the sleeping giant UK.
I love it that everyone is starting to get really scared that UK is tired of letting everyone else play ball and has showed up to the playground to take name’s.
Who really cares when they pratcice. You could schedule Kentucky to pratcice in China and they would still sell out the arena. That is the advantage. Just because they fill the seats dosen’t give other teams room to whine.
Crybaby coaches. Gillispie is innovative and found a way to have all the the national spotlight on his program (the Camelot of College Hoops), as it should be.
Everyone else just needs to accept it because Gillispie outworks every one of them and he is going to win more games than every one of them over the next decade.
When will Tubby finally let UK go. It’s over Tubby, get over it.
Funny how Tubby and Izzo head this committee and try to shape all of the “rules” to meet their aging personalities and lack of energy to recruit themselves these days. Hell Tubby couldn’t even keep up with the Junior and Senior high school classes each year. Let alone sophomore or freshman.
The NABC needs to find better things to do then complain about when someone or how someone holds their practice.
If they don’t like the outcome of when UK is having their Midnight Madness, then they should not have allowed practice to start when it did. The NABC needs to check its rules/regulations next time before they put them on the books. It seems like UK and Ill are playing by the rules if you ask me. Sucks for the NABC!!
NABC, what’s your stake in this, it’s not illegal, and your not the president of the U.K., plus you could have not added a long list that is doing the very same thing?
Thank u
Jimmy L. Collett
Gee, guess who is president of the NABC? That lazy ass TUBBY that refused to work and recruit when he was at KENTUCKY!
Tubby just does not like getting shown up by a coach who has only been a head coach for 5 years!
Here’s a idea…How about the coaches run their own programs and not worry about what anyone else is doing!
Dont you just love Coach G!!!! Go CATS!!!!!!!!
I dont really think that changin the rules is what the NABC is after. More Like a democratic smear campaign to keep UK in negative light. It doesnt matter what they do to us or say about us, the gavel has been dropped. UK is back, period. We have a coach at our helm that does everything in his power (and within the NCAA rules) too insure that we will dominate the Basketball world again very soon! Fear Billy G! GO CATS!!!
Ahh, harassment. The one part of school we enjoy. Haha, we remember one time when we made a kid jump into a lake. It was funny… ’till he drowned. Just kidding. Sorta.
NABC can’t stand it becuse Coach Gillespie has out-smarted them again. He seems to do that to a lot of inferior people. It’s called SMARTS and they can’t stand it and chastises him for it. Do not let the inferiors know it really doesn’t work. Let them keep making fools of themselves.