Billy Gillispie reportedly ran practices at Texas Tech that exceeded seven and six hours, according to emails obtained by USA Today.
Rachel George filed the report citing emails acquired through a Freedom of Information Act request. The correspondence details instances in which Gillispie put his Red Raiders basketball team through practices that lasted a total of seven hours, 15 minutes and six hours, 30 minutes, on consecutive days. The practices in question occurred on the weekend of Oct. 29-30, 2011, and were highlighted by a Texas Tech investigation.
The school emails and investigation appear to conflict with the accounts in prior reports, where former players Jaron Nash and Kevin Wagner detailed practices that lasted "all day," exceeding eight hours. Regardless, the two practices detailed in the emails far exceed the four-hour-per-day limit imposed by the NCAA. According to the report from USA Today, the school self-reported the violations to the NCAA, writing that Gillispie exceeded practice time by a total of 6 hours and 10 minutes in the 2011 fall semester.
The firestorm around Gillispie kicked up in August, prompting the internal Texas Tech emails. At the same time, Gillispie checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for high blood pressure. He resigned from his post in Lubbock on Sept. 20.