Tarleton State places Billy Gillispie on leave after getting anonymous complaint

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Tarleton State has placed men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie on temporary administrative leave after receiving an anonymous complaint, the school said Friday.

The former Kentucky coach who also led the programs at Texas A&M and Texas Tech has been at Tarleton State for five seasons. Gillispie faced allegations of player mistreatment at Texas Tech, where he spent one season.

Tarleton State said associate head coach Glynn Cyprien is filling in for Gillispie. The school had no further comment. The Texans open the regular season Nov. 3 at SMU.

Gillispie, who turns 66 next month, has spent most of his coaching career in his native Texas. He took the Kentucky job in 2007 after leading Texas A&M to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years in 2006-07. The Aggies reached the Sweet 16 in 2007.

Gillispie was fired after two seasons with the Wildcats when they missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years. He took the Texas Tech job after a two-year hiatus that included a stint at John Lucas’ substance-abuse program in Houston following Gillispie’s third arrest for drunken driving in 10 years.

The Red Raiders won just one Big 12 game under Gillispie, who resigned shortly before the start of his second season, citing health concerns amid allegations of player mistreatment. Texas Tech later admitted to violations of practice rules under Gillispie.

Gillispie cited health concerns again when he retired nine years ago while coaching at a Texas junior college. He took the Tarleton job going into the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.

Gillispie has a 226-182 record over 13 seasons. His first head coaching job was at UTEP, where an 18-win improvement in his second season led to an NCAA berth and the chance to coach the Aggies.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball