Special to The Flash from Tommy Wells
Ranger College Public Information Officer/Sports Information Director
RANGER – When Billy Clyde Gillispie stepped down as the head coach with the Texas Tech Red Raiders in 2012 due to health reasons, he couldn’t see anything on the horizon that might tempt him to return to a career that has taken him to the top of the basketball world and had him mentioned with the likes of legends Adolf Rupp, Guy V. Lewis and Coach K.
The end was at hand, he figured. And, to be honest, he was OK with the idea of relaxing and slowing down.
A funny thing happened on the way to retirement, though. Two old friends needed help.
Those friends, as it turned out, were Ranger College president William J. Campion and former RC coach Ron Butler. The two called and said they was looking for a qualified person to take over a struggling men’s basketball program at one of the smallest colleges in the state. Someone, he was told, was needed to help revive a basketball program that had fallen on hard times, suffering through a revolving door of coaches, forfeits, sanctions, and more losses than the entire cast of “America’s Biggest Loser.” That perfect someone, he was told by Campion and Butler, to bring basketball’s pulse back to Ranger College was none other than him.
At that moment, the man who had guided three Division I teams to the NCAA tournament knew he had found a new mission – make the same team that had given him a chance to play college basketball relevant again.
BCG was back.
“My love has always been basketball,” said Gillispie, who leads his new team into the start of the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference race on Jan. 9. “And I’ve always had fond memories of coming here and for what Coach Butler did for me, so when I was asked if I could help, I knew this was something I wanted to do. We want to create something special here … and we’re on the verge of doing that.”
Ironically, Gillispie said his career as an athlete Ranger College didn’t get off to the start he had planned. Originally brought in as a baseball player in the fall of 1978, he said he quickly realized the talent in the RJC baseball program didn’t bode well for his prospects.
With the knowledge that he always planned to be a coach, Gillispie said he approached Butler about serving as the basketball team’s manager during the first semester of his sophomore year. It was, he thought, a perfect way to get an inside look at the game.
Fate, however, held a different role in store for the former Graford High School star. After serving as the team’s manager for the first semester, several players didn’t return to the team following the Christmas holidays. With spots available on the team, Butler offered one to Gillispie.
“I had a lot of fun that year,” said Gillispie, who graduated from RC in the spring of 1980.
Adding the manager to the team’s roster was a move that would pay dividends for Ranger College almost 30 years later when Butler called and offered him another chance to come back.
“Really, the whole reason for me coming here was to create something special that the college and community here can be proud of,” said Gillispie. “I’ve always thought the college and the community’s here in surrounding areas have been disconnected to a point. The college is here and yet it seems we haven’t really connected with the people around here. That is something we all want to fix. We want to reach out to Ranger, Eastland, Gorman, Strawn, Stephenville and Brownwood, Comanche and all of the other towns that are around us and be their college.”
“This isn’t a bad place to start,” he added.
Although he admits to wanting to win every second of every game, Gillispie isn’t shy is admitting that he would much rather capture something even bigger. He would relish the opportunity to see his players get the opportunity to meet and get to know the same people that received him so well when he was younger. That, above all else, would be the icing on the cake, he admits.
“You know, I really want to set the world record for community service,” he said. “We haven’t had as much time lately to do that, but I want our guys to get to know the people here and for the people to be able to get to know and support them,” he said. “We want our players to be a part of this community, and to take that with them wherever they may go when they leave here. I remember that, and that sense of belonging here is something I want these young men to experience.”
Gillispie knows the one way for the Rangers to open the doors is for the team to succeed on the court. Wins bring excitement. Excitement brings people. People bring relationships.
“We’re looking for additional opportunities to perform community service,” said Gillispie, who had his team visit with Eastland youth basketball players in December. “Anyone that has a community service project that we can help with, we encourage them to reach out to us. We want to be a part of this community.”
The Rangers have more than lived up to their end of the bargain over the first half of the season. The team has won all 16 of its games this season on the court – a clerical error early in the season cost the team its first four wins. Last weekend, the team took a huge step down the road of respectability by defeating Midland College, 69-67, as part of the Region V Shoot-Out in Brownwood. Ranger was the only NTJCAC member school to post a win in the annual pre-conference matchup with teams in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC).
Earlier this season, the RC squad cracked the NJCAA’s national poll, reaching as high as No. 16.
“We’re a work in progress,” Gillispie said. “We’re not anywhere near where we want to be, but we’re getting better every day. Our whole goal is to be something the people here can be proud to be part of, and be proud to come out and see.”
The former head coach at The University of Kentucky and Texas A&M said he and his team won’t slow down in their efforts to win and connect with the local communities. The team is planning to have players visit with local schools to meet students and read books to youngsters, and to visit churches and retirement centers, when possible.
“I would love for the people to get to know these young men, and to come see them play,” he said. “This is college basketball. These guys play some really exciting basketball. I want to encourage the people who live around here to come out and meet us and watch us play a brand of basketball. They might find that they like it.”
Ranger College begins its run through the rough-and-tumble NTJCAC on Jan. 9 when they travel to Waco to face off with nationally-ranked McLennan Community College. The Rangers will host Southwestern Christian Community College at home in the Ron Butler Gym on Jan. 13, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the women’s matchup. The varsity men will tip off at approximately 7 p.m.
The top four teams in both the NTJCAC and the WJCAC standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the Region V tournament on March 2-5 in Brownwood. The winner of the Region V tournament will advance to the NJCAA national championship tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
2016 Ranger College NTJCAC Schedule
Date Opponent Place Time
Jan. 9 McLennan CC Waco 4:00 PM
Jan. 13 Southwestern Christian CC Ranger 7:30 PM
Jan. 16 Collin County CC Plano 4:00 PM
Jan. 20 Temple College Ranger 7:30 PM
Jan. 23 Hill College Ranger 7:30 PM
Jan. 30 Weatherford College Ranger 4:00 PM
Feb. 3 McLennan Community College Ranger 7:30 PM
Feb. 6 Southwestern CC Terrell 4:00 PM
Feb. 10 Collin County CC Ranger 7:30 PM
Feb. 13 Temple College Temple 4:00 PM
Feb. 17 Hill College Hillsboro 7:30 PM
Feb. 24 Weatherford College Weatherford 7:30 PM
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