Tarleton State announced today that head basketball coach Billy Gillispie has stepped away from the due to “medical circumstances.” The school released the following statement:
Tarleton State men’s basketball head coach Billy Gillispie will not be with the team at the SoCal Challenge this week due to medical circumstances.
Assistant coach Joseph Jones will lead the Texans for their games in California against Austin Peay Monday and either CSU Bakersfield or Sacramento State on Wednesday.
The Texans and Governors will tip off at 4 p.m. CT at the JSerra Pavilion in San Juan Capistrano, California, Monday.
Back in 2018, Gillispie had a kidney transplant. It is unknown at this time if this current issue is related to that.
Gillispie told the Dallas Morning News; “The procedure will be done ASAP and should allow me to get back to coaching soon. I will not be on the sideline short-term, but by not allowing the situation to worsen, I should be back on the bench doing what I love the most in a timely fashion.”
The coaching veteran is in his fourth year at Tarleton State, where has gone 43-46. He has also served as the head coach at Kentucky, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, UTEP, and NJCAA D1 Ranger College.
More on this story as it develops.
