FORT WORTH, Texas – Billy Gillispie said he had other opportunities to get back in NCAA Division I basketball during a successful stint as a Texas junior college coach.
The West Texas native accepted one close to home, far from the overbearing pressure of trying to reach the Final Four or win a national championship.
Gillispie was introduced Tuesday as the new coach at Tarleton State, a program preparing for the transition from Division II and five years from even being eligible for the NCAA Tournament.
The move comes eight years after one ill-fated season at Texas Tech and two years after the former Kentucky coach had a kidney transplant.