Billy Gillispie’s brief tenure as the basketball coach at Texas Tech has come to an end.
Gillispie resigned from the position, citing health reasons,
according to a statement released Thursday from the athletic department.
The resignation comes at the end of a strange saga that has played
out over the course of the last three weeks, one that included
allegations of player mistreatment and violations of NCAA rules
regarding practice time.
Adding to the ordeal has been a litany of health issues for
Gillispie, whose tenure in Lubbock will end after just 18 months and one
season.
“Billy has decided to focus on his health and we wish him a full
recovery,” Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt said in the statement.
“We are proud of the young men that he has brought to this campus.
Billy’s decision allows him to concentrate on his well-being and allows
us to turn our attention to preparations for the upcoming season.”
Gillispie did not immediately return a text message seeking comment from the Avalanche-Journal.
Associate head coach Chris Walker, who last week was put in charge of
the program’s day-to-day operations for the time being, will continue
in that role until an interim coach can be named for the 2012-13 season,
according to the statement from Tech.
Gillispie recently returned from a brief stay at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn., where he was treated for abnormal headaches, kidney
problems and high blood pressure. Upon his return, Gillispie confirmed
through a text message he had been ordered by doctors to avoid stressful
environments for at least 30 days.
Gillispie will be paid the remainder of his salary for the year through April 30, about $467,000.
Tech announced on Aug. 31 it was investigating Gillispie’s leadership
as the result of a meeting between Hocutt and a group of Tech players
two days earlier, during which the players raised concerns about the way
they were being treated by the second-year coach.
Hocutt declined to discuss the specifics of his meeting with the
players, but ESPN.com, which first reported the meeting, cited an
unnamed player who said it “was about a lot of stuff that goes on in
practice, everything within the program, the way we’re being coached,
the relationship we’ve got with our coach, practice hours and stuff like
that.”
On Sept. 5, Hocutt acknowledged the university was working through
“serious issues” regarding Gillispie, calling the situation “unusual and
unfortunate.”
The athletic director also revealed Tech self-reported secondary NCAA
violations in January stemming from practices last fall that exceeded
allowable time limits. (NCAA rules state teams can practice no more than
20 hours per week and no more than four hours per day.) Tech
self-imposed a reduction of 12 hours, 20 minutes of practice time as a
result of the violations.
In addition, Gillispie was given a written reprimand and was told
there would be “zero tolerance for further disregard for the rules,”
Hocutt told the A-J.
Hocutt planned to meet with Gillispie a few days after his session
with Tech players, but the morning that meeting was set to take place,
Aug. 31, Gillispie checked into University Medical Center after
suffering severe pain and what he told the A-J felt like a stroke or
heart attack.
In the audio of the 911 call Gillispie made, obtained by The Associated Press, his breathing was labored.
“It was the worst I’ve ever felt,” Gillispie told the A-J.
As Gillispie lay in the hospital — his stay at UMC, where he was
being treated for high blood pressure, lasted six days — additional
reports containing allegations of player mistreatment began to surface.
A report by CBSSports.com cited players who said practices routinely
exceeded time limits, with one player describing a practice that lasted
at least eight hours.
Tech went 8-23 last season, including a 1-17 mark in Big 12 Conference play.
A source in the CBSSports.com report also said Gillispie forced a
player suffering from stress fractures in both legs, identified in the
report as Kader Tapsoba, to practice and run arena stairs despite his
injuries.
As Tech investigated claims of wrongdoing, Hocutt told Gillispie on
Sept. 7 he was “not to engage our program in any way” until the two were
able to meet face to face to discuss the allegations that had arisen.
On Sept. 11, Gillispie left Lubbock for the Mayo Clinic. One day
earlier, an ambulance was called to Gillispie’s house for the second
time in 10 days, a development first reported by the AP.
Gillispie, who was named Tech’s coach on March 20, 2011, was the
first hire for Hocutt, who was brought aboard as the school’s athletic
director just three weeks earlier.
“He’s a winner,” Hocutt said at the news conference introducing
Gillispie, “and there is no doubt, no doubt in my mind that the Texas
Tech Red Raiders are going to be dancing on a consistent basis in March
this time of year.”
Gillispie that day expressed excitement about returning to coaching
after a rocky two-year tenure at Kentucky, where he was fired in 2009
following a season in which the school failed to reach the NCAA
tournament for the first time since 1991.
Five months after being fired from Kentucky, Gillispie ran into legal
trouble when he was arrested for driving under the influence of
alcohol. It was his third DUI arrest since 1999, though the second
charge was later dismissed.
Gillispie reportedly checked into the John Lucas After Care Program in Houston in September 2009.
At his introductory news conference at Tech, Gillispie said he was
grateful for another opportunity to lead a program after two years on
the sidelines.
“I do appreciate you guys making the decision to let me lead your
program,” he said, “and I guarantee you I’m not going to let you down.”
Hocutt two weeks ago said he believed he and the university had properly vetted Gillispie before making the hire.
“Absolutely,” Hocutt said. “Would I ever have made that
recommendation without going through a detailed process and talking to
as many people as I could? I would not have done that.”
Gillispie’s tenure with Tech coincided with a number of personal issues.
Two months before he was hired, his mother, Winifred, passed away
after a battle with lung cancer. Sports Illustrated reported in July
2011 that Gillispie lost $2.3 million in a Ponzi scheme tied to AAU
basketball figure David Salinas, who committed suicide that month amid a
federal investigation into his investment business. This summer,
Gillispie’s nephew reportedly drowned after falling off a WaveRunner.
This offseason, six players transferred from Tech, joining nine who
left the program when Gillispie arrived. The CBSSports.com report said
30 people tied to the program have left since Gillispie took over.
As allegations directed at Gillispie surfaced the last few weeks,
several people close to the program came to Gillispie’s defense. Several
players voiced their support on Twitter, while former Tech radio
broadcast analyst Andy Ellis and Jerry Nash — father of former Tech
player Jaron Nash — told the A-J they believed Gillispie was being
painted in an unfair light.
Others, though, weren’t backing the coach. Jordan Tolbert, Tech’s top
scorer from a season ago, told ESPN.com he didn’t want to see Gillispie
return.
Now, the Red Raiders, who begin official practice Oct. 12, will start
the season with their fourth head coach since 2008. Bob Knight resigned
in February 2008 after seven seasons in Lubbock, turning the program
over to his son, Pat Knight. The latter was fired before the Big 12
tournament in 2011 after going 50-61 in three-plus seasons.
Tech has not made the NCAA tournament since 2007.
Source : http://redraiders.com/sports-red-raiders-mens-basketball/2012-09-20/texas-tech-basketball-coach-billy-gillispie-has#.UFyRoWG_-Cg
