Best of SI: Mike Leach Will Have to Pay for a Controversial Tweet

What Happened With Mike Leach?

On Wednesday night, Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach tweeted a meme depicting a woman knitting a noose: “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf..”

On Thursday, Leach apologized for the tweet, saying, “I sincerely regret if my choice of images in my tweets were found offensive. I had no intention of offending anyone.” He appeared to offend his own players, including Erroll Thompson, Fabien Lovett and Kobe Jones.

And on Friday, Lovett announced his intention to transfer from Mississippi State. Lovett didn’t elaborate on his decision and didn’t say if Leach’s tweet prompted it.

A Story on Billy Gillispie

This story got lost in the shuffle last week: On Monday, Tarleton State hired Billy Gillispie as head coach as the program transitions to Division I as a WAC member.

"Coach Gillispie has shown to truly be genuine in the way he cares about helping student-athletes achieve great success both on and off the court," school president James Hurley said in a statement. "After a national search and an extensive interview process, we are confident that Coach Gillispie's experience and commitment to Tarleton and our community make him the right person to build on the storied success of Texan basketball.”

Hurley can’t possibly believe that. He can’t possibly believe that Billy Gillispie, the former UTEP, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech head coach “cares about helping student-athletes achieve great success both on and off the court.” Gillispie has flamed out thanks to repeated drunk driving arrests and player mistreatment reports.

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