Texas Tech Hires Billy Gillispie as Head Coach, Agrees to Five-Year Deal.
By Ty Duffy
Gillispie is a Texas native. He also has a reputation for quickly rescuing programs, in Texas. He took UTEP to a WAC title and an NCAA tournament bid in two years. He brought Texas A&M to the Sweet 16 in year three. He will have some work to do with the Red Raiders. They have six seniors leaving and haven’t reached the tournament since 2007.
Basketball-wise it makes sense, though it’s still a curious hire for Texas Tech. The University fired Mike Leach purportedly for sequestering Craig James in an equipment shed, yet hires a basketball coach who forced a player to sit in a bathroom stall and to ride home in the equipment truck? Gillispie has also been arrested three times on suspicion of drunk driving.
[Photo via Getty]