Larry Gipson announced on Sunday that he will retire as head coach of the Northeastern State men’s basketball program, effective at the conclusion of the 2013-14 season.

Gipson will step down after leading NSU for the past 17 seasons. He currently has a career record of 276-198 at Northeastern State. His all-time collegiate coaching record stands at 561-358, and he is 332-256 at the NCAA level.

His 276 career victories place him second at Northeastern State behind only Jack Dobbins (314), and his .582 winning percentage is the best in school history. He reached the 100- and 200-win milestones faster than any other coach in program history.

Gipson has led NSU to nine winning seasons, five 20-win campaigns and five appearances in the NCAA Championship tournament (1999-03, 2013). His marquee season came in 2002-03, when he guided his team to a 32-3 record and the lone NCAA Division II National Championship in school history. The 2003 title is also the only national championship won in Redmen/RiverHawks basketball history. Gipson was inducted into the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004 for his outstanding coaching feat.

"Mentor, teacher, respected, competitive, caring, gracious, philosophical, analytical, and excellence are only a few terms to describe the coach and person that personify Larry Gipson," NSU Director of Athletics Tony Duckworth said. "Larry has reached the pinnacle of his career by winning two national championships and serving as president of college men’s basketball’s national organization (NABC). He is one of the most well-respected basketball coaches in the nation, and I will personally miss working with him on a daily basis. I anticipate Larry will excel in the next stage of his life as he did during his 40 years in the business."

Gipson was appointed by his peers as the President of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in April 2012 and served in that capacity until April 2013. On the NABC Board of Directors under Gipson, there were 14 NCAA Division I coaches, two NCAA Division II coaches and two NCAA Division III coaches. Notables on the board were Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Bill Self (Kansas), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh), Brad Stevens (Butler), Mark Gottfried (NC State), Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Phil Martelli (St. Joseph’s), and Johnny Dawkins (Stanford). The NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, legendary coach at the University of Kansas.

Gipson began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Tulsa under famed coach Nolan Richardson. He and Richardson are the only two head coaches ever to lead teams to a national championship at both the NCAA and NJCAA levels. Gipson, Richardson and Ray Harper (NCAA D-II, NAIA) are the only three coaches in college basketball history to win national titles at two different levels.

Gipson has won three national coach of the year honors throughout his career. He was named the 2003 NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), he earned the 2003 Molten/Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year award and he was also the 1989 NABC National Junior College Coach of the Year.

He also received the top coaching honors in the south central region in 2009 and was named the Lone Star Conference North Division Coach of the Year on five occasions. Gipson has coached more than 30 players who have played professionally. He was also a coach at the USA Basketball Trials in summer 2003.

Perhaps one of his most impressive feats came in 2012-13, when he returned to the bench following a year off from beating prostate cancer. The 2011-12 team finished just 5-21, but Gipson returned with a renewed vigor and led NSU to a 19-9 record and a berth in the NCAA Championship tournament for the first time in 10 years. Northeastern State also finished in third place at 12-6 in league play in its inaugural season as members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Gipson won his first national title at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (Miami, Okla.), where he led the Golden Norsemen to the 1989 NJCAA National Championship. He logged a 217-87 record during his tenure at NEO, serving as head coach from 1982-91.

Gipson then spent five years from 1991-96 as head coach at the University of Toledo. He compiled a 68-73 record at the helm of the Rockets, and he posted winning seasons each of his last three campaigns. He then left the coaching profession for one year before heading to Tahlequah.

The Ohio native earned his bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg College in 1974 and received a master’s degree from The University of Tulsa in 1984. In addition to coaching basketball at NSU, Gipson is an instructor in the College of Education at Northeastern State.

Gipson has been part of the HPK faculty since his arrival at Northeastern State. He will complete faculty responsibilities, any remaining men’s basketball related matters and then assist Duckworth with various duties the remainder of the spring 2014 semester.

A retirement reception for Gipson will be held in April. The date and time will be announced at a later date.

A national search for Gipson’s replacement will begin at the conclusion of the NCAA Division II regular season.

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