Billy Gillispie Returns to Coaching, Forfeits First 4 Wins Because of Paperwork

Billy Gillispie is coaching college basketball again. Gillispie signed a 5-year deal at Texas Tech in 2011 and resigned in 2012 after one very unsuccessful season, citing health concerns after a stint in the Mayo Clinic for stress and high blood pressure. Three years later, he’s back as the head coach and athletic director at his alma mater, Ranger College, a community college in Fort Worth, Texas.

Gillispie got off to a 9-0 start and a #16 National Junior College Athletic Association ranking. Then the team dropped 4-games. Four games that they had already won. Via the Dallas News:

"Tommy Wells, Ranger’s public information officer and sports information director, said Thursday that the forfeits are due to a paperwork issue. A Ranger player had originally signed a Letter of Intent to play at a community college in another state. That player, according to Wells, never enrolled at the out of state school, and instead came to Ranger.  According to Wells, the paperwork from the other school releasing the player from his letter of intent turned out to incomplete. The issue wasn’t discovered until the player had participated in Ranger’s first four games."

And one more amusing detail:

"There’s another twist to that opener against Lancaster-based Cedar Valley College, which was played in Ranger: Cedar Valley also was found to have an ineligible player, so the game is now recorded as a double-forfeit. That’s right, both teams lost."

That has to be quite rare. Coming into this season, Gillispie had coached at UTEP, Texas Tech, and Kentucky.