Now that former Texas Tech coach James Dickey is set to be hired as the University of Houston's new basketball coach, there's one thing that can said about athletic director Mack Rhoades' decision.

At least it wasn't Billy Gillispie.

By turning away from Gillispie — by turning up his nose at the nearly-unhirable Gillispie's ridiculous demands — Rhoades saved the university from years of misery. Now, Rhoades may have still doomed the Cougars to many more years of mediocrity (Dickey hasn't coached a team to the NCAA Tournament in 14 years and he hasn't been a head coach period since 2001). It's funny, but in many ways Dickey's profile looks like Tom Penders' — the coach that Rhoades was so eager to push out the door.

The 55-year-old Dickey is a lifer like the 64-year-old Penders. Like Penders, his best coaching days are long behind him. The big difference is that Penders is a much more interesting, uncontrollable guy than Dickey.

But again, at least Dickey's not Gillispie.

It's not just that Gillispie way overplayed his hand in this coaching search, arrogantly giving out signals that the UH job might be beneath him. Sure, that was offensive enough — especially considering that no AD with a brain is going to put Gillispie on his short list.

But forget how Gillispie handled himself in the search, it's how he handles himself in life that's the crushing knock. This is a guy who managed to turn almost everyone in the basketball-mad state of Kentucky against him. Gillispie treated Wildcat fans — arguably the best fans in the country, somewhat annoying Ashley Judd chearleading aside — with an arrogant, near total disdain. How do you think he would have reacted to the reality of a near empty Hofheinz Pavilion game after game?

When Gillispie was fired at Kentucky after just two seasons, there wasn't any of the usual try-to-paint-a-pretty-picture effort from his bosses. Kentucky officials came out and blasted Gillispie publicly and made sure the world knew that his dismissal had little to do with on-court matters. Then, Billy really lost it.

He picked up his third DUI, sued the school and got into the kind of public war of words that one usually only sees on an episode of Jersey Shore. This power-hungry lunatic is the coach you wanted at a desperate program where he would have felt even more free to bully everyone around?

Houston hiring Billy Gillispie would have been similar to Seton Hall's decision to bring in Bobby Gonzalez (who had more red flags sticking out him than a bull in a Spanish coliseum) a few years ago. Gonzalez was recently fired after one of his players was arrested for holding up eight people at gunpoint. And that was just the latest incident in Gonzalez's short Seton Hall tenure. (Gonzalez's former athletic director at Manhattan also absolutely eviscerated him in a New York Times story before he was fired. And a former secretary compared Gonzalez to the worst pricks she'd worked for on Wall Street.)

Did you really want that type of questionable character at UH? Gillispie appears to be cut from the same type of intimidating, insecure, bullying cloth as Gonzalez.

Sure, the Dickey hire is about as exciting as a dinner date at McDonald's.

About the best thing that can be said about Dickey is that he'll probably actually attend a few Houston area high school games — unlike Penders. Dickey doesn't exactly bring a spotless record of integrity to the Hof either. After his 1996 team at Texas Tech went 30-2, losing in the Sweet 16, it was discovered that the Red Raiders used two academically ineligible players the following season. Dickey wasn't personally sanctioned, but the NCAA took away nine scholarships from Tech's basketball program over the next four years, dooming his tenure.

Dickey's also been trying to get back into head coaching for almost a decade — with no takers. Rhoades was the only AD in the country offering him this unexpected lifeline.

But when you're cursing this Dickey move, just remember: It could have been worse.

Much worse. Billy Ball worse.