Where Will Billie Gillispie Coach Next Year?

After one of the best seasons in Texas A&M basketball history, their head coach has become the subject of so many internet rumors that Paris Hilton is becoming jealous. Performing immediate about faces at both UTEP and Texas A&M is guaranteed to make you a hot property, and that's exactly what Billy Gillispie has been able to do. While most of the rumors are just that, there's two big ones in particular that are getting a lot of play and will have Aggie fans sweating out the next couple of weeks.

#1 - Arkansas will fire Stan Heath and hire Gillispie for something along the lines of 5-7 years are nearly $1.75 million. This rumor seems to at least have some legs, though it might just be wishful thinking among the Hog faithful. It will be difficult to justify firing Stan Heath after making the NCAA Tournament this season, even if he has underachieved by most fan's expectations during his tenure.

#2 - Kentucky will look to Gillispie after Billy Donovan turns down what will almost surely be the most ridiculous contact offer in college basketball history (numbers up to $4 million per year have been floated around, though that's very difficult to believe). Kentucky will certainly be able to offer more money for Gillispie than anyone else, and the tradition and the chance to coach one of the premier programs in the country might be tough to turn down for Gillispie.

Now, I don't think Gillispie will end up anywhere but A&M for next year. He's a Texan, he has built a solid program already and has a talent rich state to recruit from. The expectations at A&M are nothing compared to the pressure cooker that Lexington would be and he has just as much of a chance to win big in College Station as he would in Arkansas. He is certainly one of the two or three hottest coaches on the market though, and I'd expect either a large contract extension from Texas A&M or a new job is in his immediate future. I'll stick with the extension for my guess, but it's going to be a very interesting situation and almost certainly one of the key cogs in this off-season's coaching carousel.