Can Gillespie Save the Kentucky Wildcats?

It's been a tough first year, for Kentucky Wildcats coach Billy Gillespie. He took over one of the most prestigious programs in all of college basketball, when former coach Tubby Smith decided to move to the University of Minnesota. Currently the Wildcats are one game under five hundred with and 8-9 record. Kentucky fans are not known for being very patient. Gillespie will not have several years to get this program back to it's championship form. With that in mind one must wonder, can Gillespie save Kentucky Basketball?

Kentucky has struggled over recent years in part because of their recruiting. The Wildcats have not gotten a number of the big name recruits in recent years. One bright spot in the recruiting in Kentucky basketball has been the signing of Patrick Patterson. Patterson is a talented young post player who signed with the Wildcats despite learning of Tubby Smith's departure. This came as a surprise to many considering the other school he was considering was Florida University(the back to back champions of the last two season). Patterson has already given Kentucky's dismal offense a shot in the arm. His ability to score in the post, rebound and defend has helped the Wildcats to one of the biggest wins they've had in a long time, a victory over #5 Tennessee earlier this month. If Gillespie can surround Patterson with some other talented players, and convince Patterson to stick around for a couple of years, he may be albe to get the Wildcats back to winning form.

During his run at Texas A&M, Gillespie was known for having great point guard play. He relied heavily on the play of Acie Law at A&M. Law,now in the NBA was quick, a solid shooter, and more importantly ran Gillespie's offense to perfection. To have success at Kentucky Gillespie will have get similar play at the point guard position. Gillespie is inheriting a couple of talented young guards in Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper. The two sophomores have spent much of this season on the bench battling injuries. When they play however they are quite talented. Meeks is a very athletic guard who has speed and can knock down the open jumper. Jasper is a more finesse guard who can shoot the outside jumper as well. Despite such talent, look for Gillespie to recruit a big named point guard to complement Patterson and the other players at Kentucky.

Gillespie has already signed a couple of solid players that will come to Kentucky next year. Point guard DeAndre Liggins is a five star player who figures to compete very quickly for a starting job at point guard. Darius Miller is a 6-6 small forward who should complement Patrick Patterson very well.

The road to victory at Kentucky will not be easy. Gillespie is a talented coach however and has a track record of winning. If Kentucky fans will be patient and buy in to Billy's plan, Kentucky should soon return to national prominence. He already has Patterson, who is sure to be a great player in Kentucky. With just a few big recruits, and with just a little time for players to learn his system, look for the Wildcats to soon be back at the top of the college basketball world.