KFDM COOP Posted March 14, 2007 Report Posted March 14, 2007 Men's basketball: Canyon knew Gillispie was quick mover Web Posted: 03/13/2007 10:43 PM CDTBrent ZwernemanExpress-News LEXINGTON, Ky. — The wide-eyed freshman, then 5-foot-8, told Billy Gillispie he wanted to play in the NBA. The kid's kid sister giggled behind her brother in the coach's office. Gillispie didn't. Instead, the intense new coach offered the youngster two things: advice to outwork everyone else in passionate pursuit of his dream, and a workout video by college and NBA coach Rick Pitino. advertisement The year? 1988. The setting? Class 4A Canyon High School in New Braunfels, Gillispie's second stop as a head coach. And outside of that impressionable freshman, Brian Caddell, and a few other true believers, people didn't quite know what to make of the young go-getter from Graford with all of the big ideas about basketball. "Canyon was a football school," said Caddell, who soaked in Gillispie's fervent counsel and wound up playing four years at Texas Lutheran. "Basketball wasn't important to everybody. But he caught my attention. "What he's doing now — is what he was doing then." The most striking memories of the 1988-90 Canyon tenure of Gillispie, whose ninth-ranked Texas A&M squad faces Pennsylvania in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday in Rupp Arena, begin with his eyes. Texas A&M Mailbag Got a question about Texas A&M? Use the form below and fire away! *Your name *Your e-mail Your hometown *Your question *Required "He had the most expressive eyes and smile when he was conversing with you," said Dorothy Oelkers, who has served as Canyon's athletics secretary the past 26 years. "Yet he was very intense when it came to his job. You can see that to this day." Said retired Canyon athletic director and football coach Troy Burch, who hired Gillispie from Copperas Cove: "You looked him in the eyes — his eyes are bright — and you saw his enthusiasm and excitement and belief in what he was doing. "It all came across." So did Gillispie's toughness. Then-principal Will Krieg said the coach's no-nonsense approach brought about "concerns" among parents whose children no longer wanted to play Canyon hoops. "Billy lived, ate, slept and drank basketball," Krieg said. "He demanded 100 percent participation and attention. By his second year, there weren't any problems. I've never seen anyone like Billy Gillispie. He's special." Added Burch, "At first, I don't think the kids knew whether they really wanted to commit themselves that much or work that hard. By the time he left, they were disciplined and ready to win." Oelkers described Gillispie's early drive and concentration as "pretty scary." "There were times when you absolutely couldn't make a joke with him, because he was so focused on something else," she said. "You couldn't pull him off of that track. When I catch glimpses of him on television, I realize that I've seen that look before." Gillispie, married at the time and only a few years removed from serving as a graduate assistant at Southwest Texas State, finished 15-15 in his first season at Canyon. His second and final Cougars squad wound up 18-13, his first winning season as a head coach, at the age of 30. "New Braunfels was a great town to live in," Gillispie recalled. "(Canyon) didn't have any immediate basketball tradition, but they used to be great; because Canyon used to not play football. They were a 3A school that didn't play football. "As they grew, they started getting away from that. They had great facilities, but the emphasis wasn't there." Gillispie's emphasis was on basketball, but as a high school coach, he also guided the Canyon cross-country team and taught world geography. "So there are a lot of people out there who can't find their way around right now," he said, grinning. Gillispie's Canyon basketball players — much like his A&M players of today — knew exactly where they stood, however. "The biggest effect he had on me is the importance that you've got to put in the work," Caddell said. "There are no shortcuts." When Gillispie left Canyon for Class 5A Killeen Ellison in 1990, Oelkers said the town was "heartbroken." "It was sort of a feeling of betrayal — but that's just human nature," she said. "You say, 'Look where you could have taken us.' People were sad and angry. They thought he was going to be a miracle worker, so it was, 'How could you walk away?'" Gillispie has since walked away from a head coaching job at Ellison, where he led the program to the state final four in 1993, and assistant jobs at South Plains Junior College, Baylor, Tulsa and Illinois. He left a head-coaching job at Texas-El Paso for A&M, which he's guided to consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time in history. Burch said 17 years ago, Canyon's following had a tough time dealing with Gillispie's departure — but people also understood. "A&M is going to be the same way if he leaves there," Burch said. "You knew Billy wasn't going to stay at Canyon very long. He's a mover. You knew he was going to go — and go fast. The people who followed him reaped the rewards."
lonestar Posted March 15, 2007 Report Posted March 15, 2007 Nice job spelling Billy's name.........most don't get it right!
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