Former Texas A&M Basketball Coach Receives Unfortunate News

It's been a tough season for the Tarleton State Texans in the 2025-26 campaign, and now they will have to add searching for a new head coach onto their list of tasks for the offseason.

Per a report by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, it was announced by the school that men's basketball head coach Billy Gillispie would not be returning to the program for the 2026-27 season.

Gillispie hasn't been on the sidelines since January due to health issues, and the team sits right at .500 with a 14-14 record in 2026.

Former Texas A&M Coach Billy Gillispie Will Not Return To Tarleton State

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Billy Gillispie talks during a time out against the Oklahoma Sooners at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK. Texas A&M beat Oklahoma 56-49. | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

After starting his head coaching career with the UTEP Miners in 2002, Gillispie manned the Texas A&M Aggies from 2004 to 2007, leading the team to a 70-26 record over his three years, which also included trips to the Round of 32 and Sweet Sixteen during his second and third years, respectively.

The 2006-07 season saw the Aggies become the first Big 12 Conference team in the South Division to defeat the Kansas Jayhawks on their home court, and also defeating the No. 25 Texas Longhorns on their way to a No. 7 ranking in the AP Top 25.

The Texas State graduate was also awarded the Big 12 Coach of the Year awards in 2005 and 2007 for his efforts in College Station, and was named SEC co-Coach of the Year in 2008 with the Kentucky Wildcats, whom he spent 2007-2009 with.

His Kentucky tenure was one of chaos, as many unimaginable stories filled his years in Lexington, perhaps the wildest being when he was fired, even being chased around the Joe Craft Center by members of the media upon the news, on top of various DUI charges as well, and his termination even resulted in a lawsuit filed by the coach against the University of Kentucky.

After his haywire time with the Wildcats, Gillispie returned to the Big 12 and the Lone Star State when he replaced Pat Knight as the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, only to finish 8-23 in his only season and resigning a few months before the start of the 2012 season, citing health concerns.

After a three-year hiatus, Gillispie returned to the sidelines with Ranger College as the basketball coach and athletic director in April of 2015, before retiring for a short amount of time from late 2016-early 2017, claiming blood pressure issues. He would, however, return to the team as head coach in May of 2017.

In the midst of a global pandemic in March of 2020, Gillispie was given the head coaching job with Tarleton State, with whom he has accrued a 78-74 record with in his five-year tenure.