The thread that ties together the Billy Clyde Gillispie and John Calipari messes in University of Kentucky basketball are the incompetence and duplicity of President Lee Todd and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart. The university’s Board of Trustees should call an emergency meeting to grill Todd and Barnhart. If they’re not satisfied with the answers, change may be in order.
Todd and Barnhart hired Gillispie without thoroughbly checking him out and let him get away with not signing a formal contract. They did sign a letter of understanding that gave Gillispie the safeguards he needed — $1.5 million a year if he were fired without cause — but didn’t give UK the safeguards it needed in case Gillispie proved to be the wrong guy, which, of course, he did.
So now the letter of understanding is the crux of the $6 million lawsuit that Gillispie filed against the UK Athletics Association in Dallas. He and his attorneys say it is a binding legal contract, and it may be hard to prove them wrong. On May 28, UK filed a countersuit in Franklin Circuit Court. UK’s only out seems to be a clause that says the terms of the letter are contingent upon Gillispie signing a formal agreement.
But how could Todd and Barnhart let Gillispie go two years without signing a contract? Even in the sordid world of big-time college athletics, this is a first. And Todd and Barnhart look like a couple of clowns for letting Gillispie play them as he did.
In the Calipari case, Todd and Barnhart knew that the NCAA had informed Memphis on Jan. 16 that it was investigating Calipari’s program for rules violations that apparently involved point guard Derrick Rose, who led Memphis to the NCAA title game as a freshman in 2007-’08.
Rose was not mentioned by name, but the NCAA said its allegations involved a player who participated only in that one season, and Rose is the only player who fits that bill. The connection between Rose and Memphis was “Worldwide Wes,” a notorious and nefarious flesh peddler who ingratiates himself with many of the nation’s best prospects.
Read the Rest After the Jump…
It seems the NCAA has reason to believe that somebody took the SAT entrance exam for Rose. If so, that’s academic fraud, one of the most serious violations in the NCAA rules book. It’s the same thing the NCAA accused UK’s Eric Manuel of doing in the 1989 scandal that led to the firing of Eddie Sutton. The NCAA also seems to think that Memphis covered the $2,000 tab for one of Rose’s associates to fly on the team plane to a road game.
Although UK claims that Calipari received a letter from the NCAA stipulating that the coach was not directly involved in the alleged violations, Todd and Barnhart had a moral and ethical obligation to make full disclosure to the public and press, especially considering the biggest knock against Calipari was his shady reputation as a recruiter.
The reputation took hold at UMass when it was learned that Marcus Camby, the star of the university’s 1996 Final Four team, had illegally signed with an agent before he declared for the NBA draft. The NCAA couldn’t prove that Calipari knew about Camby’s arrangement so it let him skate. However, UMass was stripped of its trophy, its victories and its earnings. It now is listed as “Vacated” in the official summary of the ’96 Final Four.
Instead of being forthcoming about the NCAA’s investigation of Calipari’s program at Memphis, Todd and Barnhart decided not to mention it in the hope that the NCAA wouldn’t find any wrongdoing. So at the press conference announcing the hiring of Calipari, they smiled and talked about how thoroughly they had checked him out and, in effect, lied by omission.
Had they told the whole truth, of course, they would have been pilloried by the media and the responsible element of the UK fan base. Given UK’s lengthy history of trouble with the NCAA, it would have been easy to make a case that history was repeating itself – that the Big Blue again was putting winning ahead of all. In fact, Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Leader made that very case in an open letter to Todd.
Inevitably, comparisons would have been made with Indiana’s decision to hire Kelvin Sampson even though his Oklahoma program was under NCAA investigation at the time. Despite their protests to the contrary, the IU President and A.D. were so desperate to win that they were willing to roll the dice on the integrity question.
That worked out well for them, didn’t it?
But here’s the real kicker: Todd and Barnhart apparently didn’t even tell the UK Board of Trustees about the situation at Memphis. This is unconscionable, considering that the Board is responsible for approving Calipari’s contract.
It was the second time that Barnhart had withheld information from the Board. Back when football coach Rich Brooks was hired, Barnhart didn’t mention that Brooks had been involved in an NCAA investigation during his days at Oregon. When the facts came out, Barnhart apologized to the Board.
By not being upfront about what was happening at Memphis, Todd and Barnhart did the Board of Trustees, the media and the public a grave disservice. Those who were willing to give Calipari the benefit of the doubt – and I’m one of them – now feel used and abused. By not putting all the facts on the table, they willfully deceived us. They gambled that the Memphis mess would blow over without charges being made – and they lost, spectacularly.
Now it’s time for the Board of Trustees to step in and take charge. Todd and Barnhart should be called on the carpet and asked to explain themselves. They bungled the Gillispie contract. They misled the Board, the media and the public in the Calipari hiring. Both will result in more negative national publicity that UK absolutely doesn’t need.
UK’s alumni and fans don’t have the right to expect a Final Four team every season. But they do have the right to expect integrity, competence, and honesty from the individuals who are entrusted with the university’s health, welfare, and reputation.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Danny Pearson // May 28, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more Mr. Reed. Everyone knew the answer to the question of why didn’t they contact Calipari two years ago, obviously they hadn’t gotten desperate enough.
With all the history of problems at UK one would think they should have been more up front about this. I’m a diehard fan but I don’t want to cheat to win.
2 Randy Harmon // May 28, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Billy, your story was an interesting read and made many good points. I do have a couple of questions though. Is it possible that, given the NCAA confirming that Coach Calipari was not under investigation for anything at all and Coach Calipari was forthcoming in his interview about the investigation occurring at Memphis, President Todd and AD Barnhart were correct in not mentioning this matter during the press conference? Could it also be possible that all parties were barred from exposing the existence of this NCAA investigation, at that point, since none of the parties were directly involved in the view of the NCAA? Is it reasonable, given these circumstances, that UK would damage their program, Coach Calipari and their recruiting effort by exposing the investigation?
I suppose they could have exposed the investigation of the University of Memphis basketball and golf programs, put the hiring of Coach Calipari in limbo, let the UK program hang in the breeze and discount the assessment of the NCAA, but those things don’t seem reasonable. I understand the desire of everyone to know everything all the time, but we all know that’s not how the world works, not just in college basketball either. There are plenty of facts to be reported in this matter. I think it unfortunate that many accounts, including this one, report selective facts while ignoring those that don’t support their position, make dubious connections and suppositions between and about unrelated incidents and embellish their stories with unrelated conjecture and rumor.
I agreed with Mark Story when he wrote his open letter and I still do. This is not a comfortable situation, as I also harbored some doubts. But I think it reckless and self-serving to be reporting “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” while holding the lighter. Stick to the facts, all of them, and allow the reader to form their own opinion. Rest assured it probably won’t be too far from your own, people are really pretty smart.
3 bill // May 28, 2009 at 5:54 pm
The head basketball coach is responsible for wrongdoing in his/her program. How could Calipari not be held to account? It is just like the “ultimate insurer” rule in horse racing that the trainer is responsible for foreign substances in his/her horses. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Todd and Barnhart would take this risk, knowing what they did. As a UK graduate living out-of-state I am tired of being asked about this kind of nonsense. I would rather have a mediocre record than this kind of publicity every 10 years or so.
4 Marion County // May 29, 2009 at 7:24 am
I am disgusted pure and simple. Another Barnhart mess. I never felt good about this hire. About a month ago while listening to the Bill Keightley tapes, I heard Mr. Bill ask who UK would get to replace Tubby Smith. The interviewer had many names, one was John Calipari. Mr Bill responded that Calipari had too much of a shady background to coach at UK. God Bless his soul. He was right then and I think he is right now.
Too bad the Mitch Barnhart and President Todd did not see a pattern emerging. Calipari’s school goes on probation the year after he leaves.
It should be noted by everyone that former UK coach Eddie Sutton was not “named” by the NCAA, UK was. Former football coach Hal Mumme was not “named” by the NCAA, UK was.
I could care a less if Calipari was “named” in the UMass or Memphis case. The schools are!
John Calipari can leave Kentucky today as for as I am concerned and take Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd with him. It is time we have an AD with Kentucky ties who cares about the long term of the school not his next paycheck.
5 Dennis // May 29, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Great article. Especially considering Pat Forde confirmed with David Price that he never granted UK or Calipari their self-proclaimed immunity. Its time the NCAA begin regulating to the spirit of the law and not its letter. Just as professional athletes are responsible for what they knowingly or unknowingly put in their bodies and CEOs must sign Sarbanes-Oxley certifications, the NCAA needs to hold the highest paid employees of its member institutions to a higher standard. Societal norms have spoken and clearly ignorance is a defense we’re no longer willing to accept.
6 Marie // May 31, 2009 at 9:31 am
Good article. It should also be pointed out that Cal convinced the Memphis AD not to let the information regarding the allegations go public. His reason? It would hurt recruiting. The unknown that it was KY recruting and not Memphis recruting. The Memphis AD leaves much to be desired as well.
7 s.smith // Jun 1, 2009 at 8:43 am
Billy Gillispie Scandal, John Calipari Scandal, and the Rick Pitino Scandal. This will be the most exciting basketball seasons since the Adolph Rupp and Happy Chandler Point Shaving Scandal. Bring On Alan Cutler!
8 Gabe Prewitt // Jun 1, 2009 at 9:50 am
I agree with many of your points on Todd and Barnhart. They certainly fumbled up the entire process with Billy G starting with the day he was hired….
However, I strongly disagree with your comments on Calipari. How can you hold someone accountable for something that happened BEFORE the player was part of your program and halfway across the country at their own high school. This could have happened to any coach that Rose could have ended up playing for. Would people be more willing to dismiss the accusations if Rose had worn Carolina Blue or played at Duke? I suspect so.
Everyone would be quick to defend those coaching staffs and how they could not have possibly known. I think Calipari will be a smashing success at UK and all members of the media who have an agenda against him, will be in for a looooong period of suffering.
9 Nacho // Jun 2, 2009 at 6:57 pm
It is silly to hold a program responsible for what is an obvious blunder by the NCAA.
Rose was cleared by the NCAA, and only after Memphis did so well did anything come of it.
After reading more news, specifically the response from Memphis talking about their investigation, and how the person that informed the NCAA of the violations has now recanted, it seems that the real group to jump the gun here is the media looking for anything they could find.
10 Scott // Jun 7, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Kelvin Sampson was directly involved whereas coach Cal is/was not. That is not a fair comparison…but who cares about being fair, right Billy?
11 Paul Schmidt // Jun 25, 2009 at 1:09 pm
“You’re right, you’re right, of course you’re right,” but. . . . a good coach without issues from his past comes along about as often as a bright, well-to-do, good-looking 21-year-old virgin, like once in a lifetime. Unfortunately, unless you’re Duke, you have to get remarried more often than that. So I’ll grant you there’s a risk Calipari’s caldron of trouble will bubble over all too soon. Yes Todd and Barnhart should no longer be taken at their word in pitching major hires to the public or the trustees. But hey, the upside of Coach Cal to me is not so much the roundball skills of his recruits as the exuberant, expansive, creative, compassionate and cooperative way he has gone about doing his job. Among basketball coaches, he is not only the best personality you could find to advertise this commonwealth. I believe he is also the best person you could find to inspire it. Life, training and institutional controls can teach rules compliance, but you can’t teach genuine character and charisma. We just tried that.
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