Kentucky Head Coach Billy Gillispie
Opening statement ?
?We have been hustling, trying to get everything organized. We are trying to get caught up on recruiting, trying to get ahead of recruiting, trying to put a staff together, trying to get the lay of the land. Most importantly, we are trying to develop a relationship with the players, and that has gone real well. I have been really pleased with how the things have gone with the players. We have had three short workouts and they have been fantastic. I am really excited about some things that I have seen, that I didn?t know were present, just because I had no familiarity with some of the players. I am really excited about the direction that it has been headed in the first week.?
On the current makeup of the UK roster ?
?I think we have some guys that have the abilities to be leaders. I think there are going to be a lot of intangibles that are going to be present with our team. That is not something you can see watching film, you can only do that when you start developing relationships. I think this is going to be a really hard-working team, it is going to be a close team, and I think they are really going to like each other. That is something that is important to me as a coach – I know as a fan it is fun to watch those kinds of teams play. Who knows, it is a long way off, we are still seven months away, but I am real excited about some of the things we have seen in the three days.?
On putting together a coaching staff ?
?We are working on it, we are going to be very careful. We have made some decisions that haven?t been totally finalized yet and you want to get it done as quickly as possible. We are going to make sure that we put together the absolute best staff in the country. I think we have a lot of people who have interest and I think they can do an unbelievable job here.?
On what he is looking for in assistant coaches ?
?I am different; I don?t think that guys should be one dimensional. On our staff, No. 1, I want guys that I want to be around and that we have fun together. You spend an enormous amount of time together, so we are going to have fun. I like guys that have a smile on their face, even in tough times. I like guys who the tougher it gets, the better they become. We don?t want to have just a recruiter, just an academic guy, we don?t want to have a guy who is only good in skill development – we want to have guys who are multi-dimensional. I have a responsibility to help get those guys ready to be a head coach and I want guys who are great in every single area. I want them to be very well rounded.?
On recruiting ?
?I don?t know for sure. We are definitely working toward that, our roster is not where it needs to be, and we have to work in that respect. We are working around the clock to get that completed here in the very near future.?
On his recruiting style ?
?I think I have been at good places. I think you have to have a product to sell to become a good recruiter. I think everyone in college basketball works hard, but I know we work extremely hard in recruiting. I think one thing that helps is that we have been honest. What has been the best thing for recruiting is once we have players on campus, the people that we are currently coaching are the best recruiters. They can tell players when they come in here on a visit, ?Hey this is the way coach is, whatever he tells you is going to be the truth, he is not going to lead you on.? Honesty is a big part of being able to recruit. One of the most important things and one of the reasons why we have had good success recruiting is because the guys who have played for us, year after year after year, after they have completed their playing career, they always speak very highly about the people who have shaped their basketball careers. So, they have a chance to go on and graduate, get on with life, or go play professional basketball.?
On the effort of the returning players ?
?I am really excited about the effort of every player on our team. I knew they were good, but I think they are better then I even thought they were going to be. I am really excited about that, the most important things to me, after you have talent, is the intangibles you possess and being willing to accept the hard work and effort, those can make teams be special. If our guys will continue to work hard with the same kind of attitude that they have been willing to have, I am going to be real excited about the near future.?
On what he is looking for from the returning players in the off-season ?
?I am really looking more at how well guys are going to compete. You can watch all the tape you want, but until you are up close and personal you don?t really have a 100-percent, for-sure situation. I am looking for guys that are competitive, that look for others before they look for themselves. I am looking for guys who are vocal, guys who go out and figure out ways to help out a teammate. We are seeing a lot of those things present already. I think they are learning me and I know I am learning them. I have been extremely pleased with the way they have worked.?
