Recapping a busy week for UK: Part 2-Billy Gillispie vs. UK

Earlier I posted part one of a four part series detailing a busy week in UK Basketball and the four main issues I am thinking about on the heels of this news. Here is the second main thing on my mind.

Billy Gillispie vs. UK and UK vs. Billy Gillispie – Any other week, the lawsuit filed against UK by former coach Billy Gillispie and UK’s countersuit against him would have thoroughly dominated the headlines in the Bluegrass. Instead, that issue played second fiddle.

Until this week, we knew very little about the way the divorce between UK and Gillispie were going, other than some hearsay and some Billy Gillispie sightings out on the town. Now we know much more and we know that we are probably about to know everything we could possibly want, and more.

Billy Gillispie, I’m sure, wanted to get his settlement and get on with his career, because if details of UK’s reasons for firing him after only two seasons emerged, his future in Division I basketball would be in peril. If half of the rumors of Billy G’s dealings with the players and media were true and made public, any high or medium profile program would have serious concerns about hiring him any time in the near future.

Apparently UK and Gillispie were so far apart on terms of a buyout that he was willing to take that career hit to get the money he felt he deserved. Believe it or not, Gillispie’s case against UK is pretty strong. I think UK treated the infamous Memorandum of Understanding as a binding contract, so the only way they will get out of paying him his rightful $6 million buyout will be to prove he violated the terms, either by not negotiating a full contract as called for in the MOU or otherwise.

This is going to be a long, drawn out fight, and the first stage will be whether the fight will take place in Texas or Kentucky.