John Pelphrey’s alma mater finally pulled the trigger and dismissed Billy Gillispie as its basketball coach Friday. After only two years, Gillispie is out at Kentucky, and Arkansas’ coach has been tossed into the mix — albeit his name surely sits far down UK’s list.

Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story wrote Friday afternoon that “Pel picked a really bad year to go 2-15 in SEC games at Arkansas.” Check the Herald-Leader’s candidates page.

Oklahoma State’s Travis Ford, the former UK guard, seems far more likely to be the logical fall-back candidate than Pelphrey if big names such as Florida’s Billy Donovan don’t take the gig (UPDATED: Donovan says he won’t).

Also, it’s hard not to wonder whether Gillispie thinks he made a big mistake in April 2007. Remember who else was hard after the man who quickly turned around Texas-El Paso and Texas A&M? Here’s a refresher.