Billie Gillispie’s future in doubt as absence extends to sixth week

BY GAVIN PATRICK

Sports Editor

Story has been updated since being published.

Tarleton State men’s basketball has played a significant portion of their season without head coach, Billy Gillispie, for the second time in three seasons.

On Feb. 20,  Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, citing university sources, reported that Gillispie will not return to Tarleton State for the 2026-27 season, and the program will begin searching for a new head coach after this season.

Gillispie, 66, has been away from the bench since the team’s Jan. 15 game against Southern Utah, telling The Dallas Morning News on Feb. 13 that he is dealing with blood pressure and heart-related problems. Gillispie also missed a game on Dec. 29 for the same reason, but returned to coach the next three games before taking an extended leave.

Associate head coach Glynn Cyprien was officially named the team’s acting head coach on Jan. 30 and has coached every game in Gillispie’s absence.

Health battles are not a new story for the Texans’ head coach.

In the 2023-24 season — when Tarleton scored its best Division I record at 25-10 — Gillispie missed the team’s final 31 games due to medical issues related to high blood pressure, which required a minor procedure, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Assistant coach Joseph Jones stepped in as head man and went 23-8, leading the Texans to their first WAC Semifinals appearance and a CIT Semifinal bid. Gillispie then returned to coach every game the following season.

At the time of Gillispie’s absence in 2023, nine days passed from the initial announcement of his health situation before the team announced he’d be away indefinitely, with then athletic director Lonn Reisman releasing a statement, reading “Billy Gillispie’s health is the first priority. At this time, his medical circumstances are preventing him from leading our men’s basketball program, and our prayers are with him.”

However, more than a month into his current hiatus, there has been no official announcement or statement from the athletic department regarding Gillispie.

The only indication from the program so far is that Gillispie has missed time from being “under the weather.”

When Cyprien was announced as acting head coach, athletic director Steve Uryasz had no comment on Gillispie’s situation — a different tone from Reisman in 2023 — saying “Coach Cyprien has been a great leader of our student-athletes over these past two seasons, and I know he will continue to represent our program well as the acting head coach.”

Before coming to Tarleton in 2020, Gillispie had to step away from coaching numerous times for health reasons.

In 2012, Gillispie was hospitalized for six days with high blood pressure and heart attack symptoms while coaching at Texas Tech, leading to his resignation.

Four years later, he retired from coaching after another episode with high blood pressure, where doctors told him that his long-term health could be compromised if the issue wasn’t addressed immediately.

Gillispie resumed his position at Ranger College a year later, saying in an interview with the El Paso Times that he’d, “rather die coaching than live doing anything else.” In December 2017, Gillispie was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney failure and underwent a life-saving transplant in April 2018.

All of this came after Gillispie spent time in John Lucas’ substance-abuse program in Houston from 2009 to 2011, following three arrests for drunk driving in a 10-year span.

His second charge was later dismissed. After completing the program, Lucas said of Gillispie, “Billy isn’t an alcoholic. He was just making some bad choices.” (via ESPN).

On Oct. 3, Gillispie was in the news again after being placed on temporary administrative leave for an anonymous complaint filed against him. The Texas A&M University System initiated an employee conduct review, and Gillispie was reinstated on Oct. 6.

Gillispie had faced controversy for player mistreatment while he was the coach at Texas Tech in 2011 and 2012. He reportedly forced injured players to practice and was reprimanded by the university for exceeding NCAA practice-time limits. This came in the midst of his hospitalization for high blood pressure, which forced him to resign in September 2012.

Despite the current ambiguity surrounding Gillispie, the Texans have a season to finish.

Since Cyprien took the reins on Jan. 15, the Texans are 3-8 — currently with a 14-14 record overall — and sit tied for last place in the WAC, as they enter the latter stretch of conference play before the WAC Tournament begins on March 11.

Almost half (six) of the Texans’ losses have come by six points or less, and their top four scorers have all missed significant time with injuries, including Dior Johnson — who averages 23.6 points a game — Chris Mpaka, Cam McDowell and Freddy Hicks, all missing at least six games.

Tarleton State Athletics declined to comment for this story.

Editor's note: Tarleton State Athletics announced Friday that the search for a new men's basketball coach has begun.