Billy Gillispie won’t return as Tarleton State coach after being out for health reasons
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STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Tarleton State coach Billy Gillispie, who has been away from the bench for more than a month because of medical issues, won’t return next season, the school announced Friday.
Glenn Cyprien was named acting head coach on Jan. 30, about two weeks after Gillispie stepped away.
The 66-year-old Gillispie told The Dallas Morning News earlier this month he was dealing with heart and blood-pressure issues that have plagued him for years. The former Kentucky coach had a kidney transplant in 2018, but told the newspaper his kidney was fine.
A rising star in the coaching profession after quick rebuilding jobs at UTEP and Texas A&M, Gillispie was hired by the Wildcats in 2007. He was fired after two seasons when Kentucky missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years. He was then out of coaching for two years, during which he spent time in a substance-abuse program after a drunken driving arrest.
Gillispie took the Texas Tech job in 2011, but left after one season and just one Big 12 win. The West Texas native faced accusations of player mistreatment during his time with the Red Raiders.
Tarleton placed Gillispie on administrative leave in October to investigate an anonymous complaint. He was reinstated three days later.
Gillispie was coaching at Ranger College in Texas when he had the kidney transplant. He took the Tarleton job two years later as the school was transitioning to Division I and was on his second contract with the Texans when the medical issues arose this season.
Gillispie missed the last four months of the 2023-24 season dealing with complications from high blood pressure. His stint at Ranger was interrupted by a brief retirement, when he said he was stepping away on the advice of doctors because of his issues with high blood pressure. The kidney transplant came later.
Tarleton was the longest of Gillispie’s five Division I stops. He was 92-89 with the Texans and has a career record of 240-197.
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