Is News Out of Stephenville a Bad Omen?
Is News Out of Stephenville a Bad Omen?
Tarleton State announced men's basketball head coach Billy Gillispie signed a 2-year contract extension to stay in Stephenville despite missing nearly entire 2023-24 season due to medical reasons.
Nov. 19, 2023.
A date which will live in…okay, well not quite infamy.
But, it will go down as a pretty historic day for the Tarleton men’s basketball team.
Why?
Well, that was the day that the Texans announced head coach Billy Gillispie would be sideline for the time being with a medical circumstance and assistant Joseph Jones would be the interim head coach.
There was no timetable for Gillispie’s return. Some speculated that Gillispie wouldn’t coach again at Tarleton. And the theories went on.
However, longtime assistant, and former Billy Gillispie player at Texas A&M Joseph Jones had some big shoes to fill.
The Texans were 2-2 at the time, and getting ready to head to California for the SoCal Challenge.
Two wins later, and the Texans were off and running behind Jones and the rest of the Texans staff.
19 wins later, sitting in a position to win a WAC regular season title, and setting the Division I era record for wins in a season, it seems rather odd that someone leaked to ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Billy Gillispie and Tarleton had agreed to a 2-year extension.
However, on Wednesday morning, Tarleton made it official by announcing that Gillispie had agreed to a 2-year extension to stay as the Texans head coach.
"I'm also extremely appreciative of the caring support, patience and prayers that Dr. Hurley, coach Reisman, our fans, friends, the staff, and especially the players have shown during my absence to address my medical situation which has now been resolved," Gillispie added. "I have no restrictions but will remain in an advisory role for the rest of the season as our team is having a historic season. It's been a joy to watch coach Joseph Jones and the staff lead the great young men to unprecedented heights and provide infinite excitement. I have never seen anyone do a better job. It's not over yet though as 'March Madness' is in full swing. Go Texans."
Is it good that Billy Gillispie has been cleared to return to coaching? Yes. Is it good that he will stay in the background as an advisor for the rest of the season? It seems like it, especially if that is what he has been doing since the news on Nov. 19 of him taking a leave for a medical circumstance.
But, with two regular season games to play, a WAC regular season title on the line, and a chance to make a special season even more so, the timing of this news of the extension seems rather odd.
Acting head coach Joseph Jones has done a tremendous job of keeping the Texans locked in. Tarleton has won 10 straight, putting itself in the position to win its first-ever WAC regular season title.
Some people will attribute that to Gillispie’s presence behind the scenes. However, Gillispie isn’t on the sidelines or in Jones’ ear during games. Thus, what Joseph Jones has done over the past three months is remarkable.
The former Texas A&M Hall of Fame member is in his fourth season at Tarleton. Not only has Jones been a member of Gillispie’s staff over the past three and a half years, he also played for Gillispie at Texas A&M for three seasons.
So, the connection is there. The trust is there. But, why make the announcement now?
Two games left in the regular season as well as the WAC Tournament semifinals in a little over nine days.
For a team that has already made history in 2023-24, an announcement like this on the eve of one of the biggest games of the Division I era could potentially be a distraction.
Who are the Texans playing for? Gillispie? Jones? Maybe it is simply a matter of playing for one another, “putting the hard hats on and going to work” as Joseph Jones told me last week before wins at Utah Tech and Southern Utah.
Here is the thing. Did the Tarleton players know this was potentially going to happen? If so, Wednesday’s news won’t be a major distraction.
However, if the Texan players didn’t know, and thought Joseph Jones could be the next head coach, could it cause a problem especially where the margin for error with two games left to play is extremely slim?
Tarleton hosts Utah Valley and Seattle U this week at Wisdom Gym to end the 2023-24 regular season.
Currently, the Texans are a half game behind GCU. The Lopes have Thursday off and will surely be scoreboard watching.
Two Texan wins to cap off the regular season mean, at the very least, a share of the regular season title. Two wins and a GCU loss at CBU on Saturday means the Texans are outright champions.
Obviously, with GCU only having one game left, one loss this week at home could be detrimental.
Will there be a bit of a sluggish start on Thursday night as the Texans try to figure out the news of their head coach signing an extension? Will it be a distraction in a must-win situation?
It remains to be seen.
Either way you slice it, Joseph Jones has done tremendous as the interim/acting head coach, and Billy Gillispie is returning to his spot as the Texans head coach for two more years.