Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

Lexington Herald-Leader staff report | Photo by Charles Bertram

“You want to be at a place that expects to win every game.”
– Billy Gillispie, April 5, 2007

PROFILE: Coach demands toughness, pays attention to detail 

BORN: Nov. 7, 1959, in Abilene, Texas.

GROWING UP: Gillispie was the middle of five children and the only boy. When he was in second grade, the family moved to Graford (population 578), 65 miles northwest of Fort Worth (more background). He played point guard at Graford High School and was a two-sport athlete in basketball and baseball at Ranger (Texas) Junior College from 1978-80.

COLLEGE: Gillispie attended Sam Houston State for one year, then transferred to Southwest Texas State, where he received a bachelor’s degree in education in 1983. Southwest Texas State is now called Texas State.

AGE: 47

CAREER HEAD-COACHING RECORD: 100-58 in five seasons as a college head coach (Two years at Texas-El Paso, three years at Texas A&M)

COACHING CAREER:
1982-85: Texas State, graduate assistant
1985-87: Killeen (Texas) High School, assistant coach
1987-88: Copperas Cove (Texas) High School, head coach
1988-90: New Braunfels (Texas) Canyon High School, head coach
1990-93: Killeen (Texas) Ellison High School, head coach
1993-94: South Plains Junior College, assistant coach/recruiting coordinator
1994-97: Baylor, assistant coach/recruiting coordinator
1997-00: Tulsa, assistant coach
2000-02: Illinois, assistant coach, recruiting coordinator
2002-04: UTEP, head coach
2004-07: Texas A&M, head coach
2007: Kentucky, head coach

HEAD COACING RECORD:
2002-03 Texas-El Paso 6-24
2003-04 Texas-El Paso 24-8
2004-05 Texas A&M 21-10
2005-06 Texas A&M 22-9
2006-07 Texas A&M 27-7

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• Gillispie’s success with the Aggies made him a hot commodity. He was approached by Arkansas after Stan Heath was fired, but he decided to stay with the Aggies, agreeing in principle to a new contract worth $1.75 million. It would have made him among the Big 12’s highest-paid coaches. Gillispie, however, never signed the deal, and he didn’t hesitate when Kentucky came calling.
• Guided Texas A&M to the Sweet Sixteen of last season’s NCAA Tournament, knocking out Rick Pitino and Louisville, 72-69, in the South Regional in Rupp Arena along the way.
• Went 6-24 in his first season at Texas-El Paso but came back in his second year to go 24-8.
• Inherited a Texas A&M program that was 7-21 overall and 0-16 in the Big 12 the season before he arrived. He quickly posted seasons of 21-10, 22-9 and 27-7.
• At Texas A&M, Gillispie signed three straight top-25 recruiting classes, including a 2006 class regarded by some as the best in school history.
• Former University of Kentucky football coach Hal Mumme, then the athletics director at Copperas Cove High School, hired Gillispie as his head basketball coach in 1987.