Unlike December, Billy Gillispie's voice is strong. Positive. Coach-like.
By this time next week he probably will know whether Ericka Downey, the "angel" he's never met but who has offered to give him one of her kidneys, is in fact the perfect match that tests so far have shown her to be.
Meanwhile, the three basketball teams Gillispie coached from 2004 to 2012 -- Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech -- are in the NCAA's Tournament's Sweet 16.
"I think it's great," Gillispie said Wednesday. "Some places you left with them feeling better about you than others, but I've got so many great friends that I've maintained over the years at all three of those places that I'm happy for their schools and their fans and players and coaches.