Former A&M coach Gillispie ready for return to Reed Arena

Play hard, play smart, play together.

It was Billy Gillispie's mantra from the moment he stepped on campus at Texas A&M in the spring of 2004. The Aggie players bought in immediately, and the fans weren't far behind as Gillispie changed the culture of the A&M men's basketball program.

The Aggies executed all three phases of the slogan and advanced to the postseason for the first time in more than a decade in Gillispie's first season. Two years later, the Aggies played their way to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 for the first time since 1980.

It proved to be the foundation for a program that has reached the NCAA tournament every year since Gillispie left for Kentucky two weeks after A&M's one-point Sweet 16 loss to Memphis in 2007. But if Gillispie built the foundation, he doesn't take credit for the building former coach Mark Turgeon and the Aggies erected behind him.

"It's not easy to shoot 90 in golf, but it's a lot easier to shoot 90 in golf than it is to get down to 80 or 75," Gillispie said. "We were able to shoot 90 when we went to Texas A&M, [but] I think they have taken it down to 75 and are continuing to move forward. We had a lot of fun when we were there, and you take a great deal of pride in those guys continuing to do well and taking it to another level."

Gillispie, 52, will get a first-hand look at the Aggies on Saturday with his new team, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, when he returns to Reed Arena for the first time since 2007.

Fired at Kentucky after the 2008-09 season, Gillispie sat out of coaching for two seasons. Tech hired him in March to revitalize a struggling program much like he did at A&M and UTEP, where he coached for two years.

Although the job description is the same, Gillispie insists the A&M and Tech situations have one main difference.

"We were very fortunate that coach [Melvin] Watkins and his staff had left us some players there that were very, very good players, and we definitley benefitted from that," Gillispie said. "We are probably starting over more from scratch with 10 new players, so that would be a big difference from my first year at A&M."

Gillipsie, who had a 70-26 record at A&M, coached the Aggies to a 21-10 record and the third round of the NIT in his first season in Aggieland. He inherited two players on that team, Antoine Wright and Acie Law IV, who became first-rounders in the NBA draft. Both also played the season before Gillispie arrived, when the Aggies went 7-21 overall and 0-16 in the Big 12.

The Red Raiders finished 13-19 overall and 5-11 in conference last season under former head coach Pat Knight with a senior-dominant team. Only three players, one starter, returned from that team.

Tech is the lone Big 12 team with a sub-.500 record this season at 7-8 overall, but it hasn't shaken Gillispie's belief that his hard-smart-together motto will help the Red Raiders overcome the tough times.

"I've never had 10 new guys, so I really didn't know what to expect" he said. "I wouldn't recommend it, but it's been fun. It's been fun because they have dramatically improved. They are learning all the things that are very important in building a championship program, and that is what we are going to try and do, build a program that is going to be a long-lasting deal, not just have a good team once in awhile. Everyone knows that is going to happen. It's just a matter of time."

Gillispie insists Saturday's game is about the players and not his return, but he admits walking onto the Reed Arena floor for the first time since A&M beat Missouri 94-78 in 2007 will mean a lot to him personally.

"It will be a special day for me. It was a special time of my life," Gillispie said. "I had a great time there, and I made so many relationships with the players we coached and also the people of the community and Aggies everywhere. They were so great to me and continue to be, so it will be special to me."

After the opening tip it will be back to business, though, with both teams trying to break into the win column in Big 12 play.

"I'm excited about where I am now, so we are going to take our team in there and try and compete like crazy, like everyone that knows me would expect and knows we would try to do," Gillispie said.

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NOTES -- The game between SWC and Big 12 rivals is likely to be the last between the two at College Station in a long time because of the Aggies' move to the SEC. A&M has hosted Texas Tech 67 times, winning 34. ... Gillispie has ties with four members of the present A&M coaching staff -- associate head coach Glynn Cyprien (two seasons at Kentucky, 2007-09); athletic assistant Peter Warden (director of operations at A&M, and at UK, 2006-09); trainer Matt Doles (two years at UTEP, 2002-04, and three at A&M, 2004-07); and director of student-athlete development Barry Davis (one year at A&M, 2006-07).

Who: Texas A&M (9-6, 0-3) vs. Texas Tech (7-8, 0-3)

When: 12:45 p.m., Saturday

Where: Reed Arena

TV/Radio: Big 12 Network/WTAW-AM 1620

Texas Tech (7-8, 0-3)

Pos. Name Ht. Class PPG RPG

G Javarez Willis 5-11 so. 9.3 *2.0

G Ty Nurse 6-1 jr. 9.9 1.9

F Jordan Tolbert 6-7 fr. 14.1 6.1

F Jaye Crockett 6-7 so. 6.6 4.8

C Robert Lewandowski 6-10 sr. 7.2 4.2

Texas A&M (9-5, 0-2)

G Dash Harris 6-1 sr. 5.3 *4.0

G Elston Turner 6-5 jr. 13.3 3.3

F Khris Middleton 6-7 jr. 13.4 5.6

F David Loubeau 6-8 sr. 10.6 4.7

C Keith Davis 6-10 jr. 1.3 4.4

*assists