Billy Gillispie Resignation Best For He and Texas Tech, But Leaves Both In Worse Shape

Billy Gillispie resigned Thursday as coach of Texas Tech. (bleacherreport.com)

This is how it had to end. It was the only way that made sense.

And yet while Billy Gillispie resigning as the head coach of Texas Tech Thursday — citing health as the reason although he may not have had a job much longer anyway — was probably best all around, everyone involved in the situation is now worse off.

Billy Gillipsie will have trouble finding a new job. Gillispie was accused of mistreating and overworking his players, causing many of them to leave the program. Gillispie did not defend himself against the accusations because he was in the hospital dealing with stress and other health issues.

Coaching shouldn't be on Gillispie's radar until his health is in order, but even when he's ready, it won't be an easy comeback. This is the coach's second failed stop (the first being at Kentucky) and now it is going to be hard for players to trust him and buy into his system. Both his coaching and personal reputations are bruised and will need time to heal, if they ever do.

The Red Raider basketball program is in just as bad of shape. Texas Tech was steamrolled throughout the season — finishing 8-23 overall and 1-17 in Big 12 play — and bringing in a third coach in as many years will delay the rebuilding process.

I wrote earlier how Texas Tech had no choice but to part ways with Gillispie, especially after what happened with the school and former football coach Mike Leach. This outcome was inevitable, but it is far from a happy ending.

Texas Tech is not the easiest place to recruit players. The school is in Lubbock, located in the middle of west Texas — not exactly a metropolis area — where football is still the king. The prestige of being in the Big 12 helps, but is then countered by the fact the in-state recruiting competition is more talented Baylor and Texas, not to mention conference foe Kansas, who has found success recruiting in the conference's southernmost state.

The focal point of the player mistreatment allegations has been Gillispie, but there are those who have placed blame on the players, calling them soft. Others have come to Gillispie's defense, including former players who say they would play for him again. Coaches interested in being Gillispie's replacement might be hesitant to enter the situation for fear of receiving the same reputation. The new coach may even change his coaching style, easing up on practices and preparation out of precaution. If allegations arise for a second time, the Red Raider job will look like a career death sentence.

Gillispie will spend time away from coaching to restore his health, which is his first priority. Coaching is on the back burner, and maybe time will help heal his reputation.

Texas Tech is now in the hunt for a new coach. The rebuilding process has started over, and fans will have to sit through another long winter of losing. Gillispie's first season with the team did not amount to many wins, but often the second year is more successful. Now success is at least three or four years away.

The players were able to part with their coach, but three coaches in three years is never successful for players. Regardless of fault, they too have a stigma attached to them.

Then there's the new coach, whoever he may turn out to be. The Texas Tech job has now become possibly the most difficult job in the country. Who wants to inherit a controversial program that could barely compete on the court last year? This is not a quick fix. It will take time, patience and strong will.

This is as close to a happy ending as the situation could get in Lubbock, but no one is left smiling.


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The Horizon League Conference Preview: Life Without Butler

The long wait will soon be over when the first official NCAA basketball game of the 2012-13 season will tip-off on Nov. 15. Some of our favorite players have moved on the ranks of professional athletes, new recruits have been polishing their games in gyms with recognizable logos on the court, and schools have switched conference allegiances. Through a series of conference previews, the BDD crew will do its best to prepare you for the next 4.5 months of collegiate hoops.

Ryan Broekhoff looks to lead Valparaiso to a Horizon title this season. (Ray Acevedo)

Favorite: Valparaiso

The Horizon League will be in search for a new standard-bearer following the departure of the Butler Bulldogs to the Atlantic 10 Conference. In the near-term, the most likely contender is Valparaiso. Bryce Drew, famous for his buzzer-beating shot to send No. 13-seed Valparaiso to victory in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament, took over the helm for his father in 2011 and led Valpo to a regular season championship. The Crusaders look to be the favorites again after graduating only two seniors, who averaged 1.4 and 0.4 points per game, respectively.

Dark Horse: Youngstown State

Youngstown St. finished a distant 6th in the 2011-12 regular season standings. However, the Penguins return their top three scorers in 2012, including stand-out guard Kendrick Perry, the league's top scorer at 16.8 ppg. Cleveland State, Milwaukee, and Detroit will challenge Valparaiso with their talent alone, but the experience of Youngstown St. makes them a true dark horse candidate in a relatively weak field.

POY: Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso

Broekhoff looks poised to edge out Detroit's Ray McCallum, Jr. for his second straight Player of the Year honor. The 6-7 power forward from Australia averaged 14.9 ppg and led the league with 8.5 rebounds per game in his junior year. By the way, he also shot 39 percent from 3-point range. Broekhoff nearly made it to the final cut for the Australian national team this summer and has continued to develop all facets of his game. If he continues to make strides in his senior campaign, look for him to make noise on the national scene and potentially find his way into the first round of the NBA draft.

Coach of the Year: Porter Moser, Loyola Chicago

Bryce Drew won the honor of Horizon League Coach of the Year in his first season with Valparaiso. I'm guessing the pattern will continue with Loyola's first-year head coach Porter Moser. The Ramblers have received positive reviews for their hire of the former St. Louis associate head coach. Kansas head coach Bill Self said:

"Porter is very familiar with Chicago and has already gained some valuable head coaching experience at a young age. He is someone whom [St. Louis head coach Rick] Majerus gave a lot of responsibility to because of his abilities. He is a great fit for Loyola and the University. Alums and fans will love having him as their head coach."

Porter will begin with a team that returns three of its five leading scorers from last season, along with a strong recruiting class. In fact, he recently attracted University of Kansas recruit Milton Doyle (one can assume that Self helped direct Doyle to the Ramblers, given his positive opinion of Moser). After Loyola finished dead last in the Horizon League with a 1-17 conference mark, there's plenty of room to improve and impress.

Newcomer: Junior Lomomba, Cleveland State

Cleveland St. scored a big recruiting victory with Lomomba. The Vikings beat out the likes of Baylor, Minnesota, Cincinnati, and Xavier for the 6-4, 175-pound small forward from Madison, Wisc. ESPN's scouting report gives Lomomba three stars and calls him a slasher, writing, "Junior runs the floor and attacks from the wing in transition and has no problem finishing through contact on a regular basis." With Cleveland St. losing its three leading scorers from 2011-12, there should be plenty of opportunity for Lomomba to get playing time and make a name for himself right away.


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On the Passing of Steve Sabol, Football Film Mastermind

Steve Sabol influenced more than football filming. (AP Photo)

Anyone that visits BDD or reads our Twitter feed on a regular basis knows that our primary focus is basketball. On such an occasion as the passing of a luminary, however, conventional barriers can be bypassed out of respect.

Those mourning Steve Sabol, an engine powering the NFL Films machine for the past 50 years, number more than we can imagine. After an 18-month ordeal with brain cancer, the NFL films president died Tuesday morning at the age of 69. Whether his impact in an person's life was direct or simply held as a passing gesture, Sabol will be missed.

True, this can be said of most people after their deaths. But Sabol, in his way, revolutionized the way sports are filmed. His 35 individual Emmys for work with NFL Films are a testament to this, as are any number of NFL video clips or documentaries. Sabol's goal was to allow fans of American professional football to see the game he loved from new angles, beginning with his work as a cinematographer and continuing through his rise to company president.

It would be a stretch to say that Sabol is the sole inspiration for multi-camera tracking, which enables more advanced analysis of NBA games or the camera angles that chafed some viewers during this year's NCAA tournament, but his enterprising interpretation of the game he loved will have a residual effect on the way every sports broadcast is seen for a long time, if not forever.


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A Reason for Seattle to Look Forward

Sonics great Gary Payton and his watch reflect on good times with Chris Hansen. (AP Photo)

The Oklahoma City Thunder's NBA Finals appearance must have really stung Chris Hansen. It was already in his plans to lead a group of investors in funding a new sports arena in Seattle, and mayor Mike McGinn submitted an official proposal of financing in May, but talks with the city intensified in June and culminated in a deal with defined financial terms being signed last week.

By most accounts, Hansen seems to be genuine in his approach and reasoning. He is a local product that, as a hedge fund manager, reached billionaire status while working in San Francisco. While there is technically no professional basketball franchise in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors reside in the Bay Area and appear to be trending up, especially since any backcourt-ballhandling issues should have been resolved with Monta Ellis leaving town and a healthy Andrew Bogut heading into his first training camp with the team this fall.

In this context, Hansen's concessions to the initial plan — taking on more responsibility for cost overruns or, worse, if construction is never completed; purchasing the arena after 30 years of use or paying to raze the arena if it is to be torn down after the same amount of time — are understandable, even with his group already ponying up $290 million of private money to the cause. Hansen cannot be blamed for wanting to bring pro basketball back to a city that felt David Stern's scorn in 2007 as the Zombie Sonics waited to rise from the ground in OKC, with the NBA commissioner using the phrase "too bad" after stating that "if the team moves, there's not going to be another team [in Seattle], not in any conceivable plan that I could envision."

For a city that houses teams in the NFL and MLB, those words were a death knell. So, supposing Hansen's aim is true, there is no blame to be hurled or had.

A Sonics fan mourns. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Though reports that the arena will be entirely self-financing are false — Seattle's property owners would incur an additional two or three dollars in taxes each year since the proposed arena would be publicly owned — portions of the funding are required to go toward the improvement of public transportation in the SoDo neighborhood, where the arena would reside alongside the baseball and football stadiums already in place, according to a Slate article that goes in-depth on funding. Slate's reporting also explores the red-tape that may make it a challenge to bring in a new franchise.

Excitement over any prospects attached to this proposal should be tempered, though. Stern stated in February that NBA owners are not overly eager to expand, meaning that a "new" team is probably not in the equation for Seattle. He did mention that it is not unbecoming of a franchise to relocate, and one particular California team could be ready for such a move after being shopped to any prospective buyer.

In total, $800 million of private money would get Seattle a new arena that is expected to be the home of professional basketball and hockey teams; a binding agreement that neither team that plays there can relocate until the city of Seattle's financial investment is repaid in full; refinement of public transportation in a high-traffic district; and half-a-decade-late improvements to KeyArena, the former home of the Supersonics.

I know a little bit about basketball, and a very little bit about the nuances of constructing an arena and the funding necessary to pull off such a feat. That being said, it sounds like Seattle is getting the better end of things.


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Turgeon, Recruits Aim To Bring Maryland Back to Prominence

Coach Mark Turgeon is in the process of bringing Maryland back to success. (testudotimes.com)

It hasn't been that long ago that Maryland basketball was in the hunt for ACC and national titles every season.

The program hit a rebuilding process after the retirement of coach Gary Williams, and now head coach Mark Turgeon is trying to bring the program back to prominence. After this recruiting season, he could be close.

The Terrapins landed former Xavier guard Dez Wells at the beginning of the month, who left Xavier after an alleged sexual assault incident. Wells, a member of the Atlantic 10 rookie first-team last season who averaged nearly 10 points and five rebounds per game, will likely have to sit out this season due to the school change.

If the Terps can be patient and continue to progress this season, look for the 2013-14 year as the time Maryland begins making noise. Turgeon brought in a transfer forward from Michigan, Evan Smotrycz, who will also be eligible in 2013, and Maryland is in the market for the best guard duo in the 2013 high school class.

Aaron and Andrew Harrison, twin guards from Fort Bend, Texas, and the Nos. 3 and 4-rated recruits in their class, have just narrowed their list of possible schools to three, and the Terps are still in the hunt. Kentucky is one of the other schools remaining, and SMU the third school, so nothing is certain.

The Harrisons will visit Maryland for the program's Midnight Madness on Oct. 12, and while everything is uncertain when judging high school talent transitioning to the college level, landing the twins would likely be monumental for the Terps' growth. We mentioned in a previous post on the 2013 class what talented twins can do for a team.

The combination of a strong 2012 recruiting class — led by center Shaquille Cleare, who will have a year of experience by 2013 — the transfers who will be eligible to play, and the signing of the Harrison twins could shoot Maryland back into the top of the ACC in the 2013-14 season.

Turgeon's track record speaks for itself. He turned Wichita State and Texas A&M into conference contenders and NCAA Tournament teams, and he can do the same for Maryland. The Terps haven't made the NCAA Tournament since the 2009-10 season, but don't expect this streak to continue much longer.

If all goes Maryland's way, the Terps will have the talent and the coach to return to the program's rich tradition of success.


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A Look Back on Jim Calhoun's Candid Interview Response That Became an Internet Sensation

At 2 p.m. Thursday, Jim Calhoun will hold his final press conference, where he will announce his retirement.

It takes more than a few words to describe Calhoun's coaching career and his legacy. National basketball writers have been tackling the task of summing up Calhoun's retirement; about his success and NCAA troubles, his likeability and his outbursts.

I'll let them handle it. Instead, as Calhoun steps up to the podium for the final time as UCONN's head coach, let's have some fun and take a look back on the question regarding his salary in 2009 that became an Internet sensation.

As much as this showed us about Calhoun - his candidness, his willingness to give advice ("Shut up") and more specifically how much money he makes - this was a good lesson for reporters looking for the scoop on UCONN stories that happen outside of the court. If a reporter wanted that angle, Calhoun wasn't going to help him with it. What Calhoun shows us in the video is why many people loved him.

Don't expect this dialog in today's press conference. Instead, it'll be a good reminder of what the basketball world will miss with Calhoun's retirement.


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Notre Dame's Move to ACC Drives Stake Into Big East

Notre Dame's basketball team, along with all sports except for football, is the newest member of the ACC. (und.com)

The Notre Dame football program has yet to hear an offer sweet enough to lure it away from it's Independent status, which is not a surprise. That move could still be years away. But for all other sports, and basketball most importantly, the Irish are the newest members of the growing juggernaut that is the ACC.

ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported Wednesday morning that Notre Dame will join the ACC in all sports except for football. It is still unclear when that will be. The Big East has a 27-month exit rule, but the last three schools to leave the conference — West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse — have all left early.

For basketball fans, the Big East Conference Tournament is one of the biggest events of the season. The brutal road of ranked teams facing off as early as quarterfinal games in Madison Square Garden made for wildly entertaining basketball. Enjoy this year's tournament, because after this year, it won't be the same.

Conference realignment has been mainly dictated by football, which makes sense seeing as it is the largest revenue sport. So while Syracuse and Pitt are both basketball schools (West Virginia has been successful in both), the moves to the ACC and Big 12 was also because of football.

But now a school has made a move to a new conference without its football team, for now, and there lies the potential death of the Big East.

Don't get me wrong, Notre Dame's decision was also about football. Part of the agreement to move to the ACC is that the football team, while still an Independent, must schedule five ACC opponents every year.

Notre Dame saw the decline of their conference in basketball as well, and bolted before it became worse. While the football team is still involved with the school's move to the ACC, the team itself is staying still. Most conference realignment moves happen because of football, but Notre Dame's acceptance into the ACC may motivate teams without football programs to also make a switch.

Who is to say teams like Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova — who do not have FBS football teams — won't do the same? UCONN has also expressed an interest in leaving the Big East, which would make them the fifth team to do so in the last two years. Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova can't be blamed for also heading to greener basketball pastures.

In an uneasy time for conferences, the Big East is by far the most vulnerable and Notre Dame's departure puts it on even shakier ground. As a school, Notre Dame has the most tradition and national recognition in the Big East, even without football. The biggest basketball conference in the country may be on the verge of extinction.

Notre Dame's departure will be possibly the most painful to the Big East because it reopened the door for schools without football to follow. Football aside, Notre Dame didn't trust a future in the Big East, and other schools in the conference probably feel the same way. It's only a matter of time before they too seek out opportunities elsewhere.


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