The man credited with the total reconstruction of two college basketball programs will now be asked to pilot the game's most storied program back onto its championship course. On April 6, the University of Kentucky introduced Billy Gillispie as its new basketball coach.

"We started the process with the premier coaches in the country on our list and we think we found the very best one to match what we need at this institution at this time," UK President Dr. Lee Todd said. "Billy Gillispie has proven himself at every stop."

Gillispie, 47, brings to Lexington an impressive resume for building something from nothing. At Texas-El Paso, the coach improved a team from 6-24 to 24-8 the very next season. During his first season at Texas A&M in 2005, Gillispie inherited a 7-21 team that finished 21-10.

This past season, Texas A&M finished 27-7 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Ironically, his last victory this season was an NCAA Tournament win over Louisville at Lexington's Rupp Arena. He is 67-25 in his last three seasons, including a 49-6 mark in home games.

At Kentucky, Gillispie will inherit a program that has lost 25 games the past two seasons and bowed out of NCAA play the first week as a No. 8 seed. In conference play, the Cats fourth-place finish in the SEC East was its worst in years.

"I have had two opportunities to be a head coach and both places needed a little fixing," Gillispie said. "Well this situation has been fixed for a long time and we are just going to continue the tradition here and we are going to try to build upon that tradition and try to cut down some nets."

Gillispie's name had been near the top of UK's perceived wish list since the day Smith resigned. But infatuation began to build significantly in early April after Gillispie balked at signing a new contract extension with Texas A&M despite a very public announcement of the deal by the university.

The new deal at Texas A&M was for $1.75 million. His contract with his new employer is a guaranteed $2.3 million with annual raises of $75,000 during the seven-year deal.

"We want people to be successful here," athletics director Mitch Barnhart said. "We've given them the tools to be successful and we want to reward them if they are successful."

The $2.3 million contract does not include a potential $750,000 in performances bonuses. The list includes:

$50,000 for regular season SEC championship.

$50,000 for SEC Tournament championship.

$50,000 for NCAA Tournament appearance.

$75,000 for NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

$150,000 for NCAA Final Four appearance.

$375,000 for NCAA championship.

$100,000 potential for academic incentives.

"We've changed the way we've done the incentives a little bit," Barnhart said. "We've got a package with about three-quarters of a million dollars of competitive incentives and about a hundred thousand dollars of academic incentives if everything fell just right."

One topic sure to surface sooner than later was Gillispie's off-court incidents. In 1999, he was arrested for DUI but pleaded guilty to reckless driving. In 2003, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. That charge was dismissed. During Friday's introductory press conference, the coach and UK administrators said the topic was in the open from the get-go.

"Coach was right up front about that," Barnhart said. "Dr. Todd and I visited about it and I'm absolutely confident in his representation of the university. He understands the mantel of Kentucky basketball and he's going to represent it the right way.

"We're in here to teach young people how to manage themselves and lead," Barnhart added. "What we can tell them about making mistakes and forgiveness and starting over is important."

Gillispie sounded remorseful.

"I'm not proud of some of the things I've done but I've always been around people who have been gracious enough to allow us to make some mistakes," the coach said. "Something all of us need to do in life is not judge too harshly because we've all made mistakes. You can't go back and you can't change things. I wish I could change some things in my life. I made a lot of mistakes today and I'll make a lot of mistakes tomorrow. I'll continue to make mistakes, but not of that magnitude."

Barnhart moved to close the chapter.

"We're putting that in the rearview mirror," he said, "and moving on."

Gillispie is a native of tiny Graford, Texas, about 100 miles due west of Dallas. Population: 578.

"They've got a water tower and that's about it. It's an oil field town," Gillispie said.

Because of the town's size, basketball, not football, is the sport of choice.

"They didn't have enough money at the school to buy helmets so they couldn't play football," Gillispie said. "But they have an unbelievable passion for basketball. They don't have P.E. class there so they don't learn to play soccer or any of those other things. They learn how to play basketball.

"When you go back there it's great because you talk to the coach and ask him how they're going to be next year and he says, 'Well, we're not going to be great next year but I'm really looking forward to this group of fourth-graders we've got coming through. They haven't lost a game in four years and have been playing a full schedule since first grade so I believe they're going to be really good.'"

Gillispie has spent most of his high school and college coaching career in the Lone Star State. A notable stint outside Texas were the years he served as an assistant to current Kansas head coach Bill Self during his time at Tulsa and Illinois.

A 1983 graduate of Texas State, Gillispie got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater from 1982-85. His first head coaching job was in 1987 at Copperas Cove High School in Texas. He was hired by none other than former UK football coach Hal Mumme, who was athletics director at the high school at the time.

"He gave it to me because my wife (Misty) was a fantastic drill team instructor," Gillispie said. "She was working at his school and I was working at another school within driving distance. I think he was afraid that if he didn't hire me as the basketball coach then she might go elsewhere. It was all about keeping her."

Gillispie coached in the Texas high school ranks until becoming assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at South Plains Junior College in 1993. From 1994-97, he held the same posts at Baylor. His career, and life, took a major turn in 1997 when he joined Bill Self's staff at Tulsa.

Gillispie and Self became great friends during their five seasons together at Tulsa and then Illinois. In 2002, Gillispie took over the reins of his own program as head coach at Texas El-Paso where he earned the nickname "miracle worker" for the nation's best 18-win improvement from one season to the next. After two seasons, Gillispie moved to Texas A&M where he remained until Friday when Kentucky came calling.

"I'm confident that he really, really wanted to be here, and that was impressive to me," Todd said. "You won't find anybody who will out-work this gentleman."