practice of the season and the program's major publicity event) to catch a glimpse of their new coach in action. In his first few months he signed two high-profile recruits, Patrick Patterson and Alex Legion. Patterson had previously been recruited by the Duke Blue Devils, Florida Gators, and Kentucky Wildcats (by former coach Tubby Smith) before signing with Gillispie. Alex Legion would transfer 6 games into his first season at Kentucky. Gillispie's first season got off to a rocky start, being routed 84–68 by unranked Gardner Webb in Rupp Arena in the second game of the season. This loss dropped the Wildcats from the AP Top 25 poll, where they did not return for the remainder of the season. The Wildcats improved their record during conference play, achieving a 12–4 record and on March 11, Gillispie was named Co-Southeastern Conference coach of the year along with Bruce Pearl of the Tennessee Volunteers. 2008–2009 On November 14, 2008 Gillispie's Kentucky team opened the 2008–09 season with another loss at home, this time to the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Keydets, by a score of 111–103. However, on November 30, 2008, Gillispie led Kentucky to a 54–43 come from behind victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers to win the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational championship. Although his Wildcats had trailed for the entire game, Billy made halftime adjustments that stymied coach Bobby Huggins' Mountaineers, eventually allowing Kentucky to overcome a 14-point deficit well into the second half – holding the Mountaineers to only 17-second-half points. Although neither team was ranked, the win was considered an upset victory for Coach Gillispie and his Wildcats after the VMI loss and was the first in-season tournament championship win for the University of Kentucky since winning the Great Alaska Shootout in late 1996. After a 5–0 start in the SEC conference schedule, however, Gillispie's team dropped three straight games to the Ole Miss Rebels, South Carolina Gamecocks and Mississippi State Bulldogs, with the latter two losses coming at home. Some Kentucky fans vociferously booed Gillispie during the Mississippi State game. Kentucky rebounded against the Florida Gators with a 68–65 victory at home. Jodie Meeks hit a contested fade-away three-pointer with less than 5 seconds left to give Kentucky the lead. Nick Calathes had an opportunity to tie the game after being fouled with 0.6 seconds left by Kevin Galloway, but missed all three free throws (the last