You knew the hammer would fall on Texas Tech’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie. It was just a matter of time.
The announcement came late Thursday that Gillispie was done.
Was he fired or did he resign? It doesn’t really matter. Gillispie will receive his parting money and the divorce will be final.
Gillispie was in trouble when reports revealed players were not happy with the coach. He was tough, he was demanding. Don’t people remember Bobby Knight coached at Texas Tech?
But Gillispie’s major sin apparently was practicing over the limit the NCAA allows. These athletes have a life beyond basketball.
Gillispie was on medical leave for stress/high blood pressure. The condition does happen in the coaching world. But this was a different case. Gillispie coaching style and practices were on trial. In this days of the Internet world, that means the coach is in serious trouble.
People will say Texas Tech should have seen this coming. Gillipie’s coaching career starting to head downward when he lasted only two years at Kentucky. But before that, Gillispie helped turn around programs at Texas-El Paso and Texas A&M. The Red Raiders were hoping for the old Gillispie, not the previous one.
Will Gillispie rebound? If he does, look for the coach to land a job with a smaller program. No matter what the cause, he needs to restore his reputation and coaching ability.
As for the specific basketball job at Texas Tech, that’s a blog for another day.
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