By JOEL ANDERSON\AP Sports Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Updated: Wednesday, March 9, 2005 12:06 PM CST

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Billy Gillispie never doubted he would eventually win a lot of games at Texas A&M. Hardly anyone thought it would happen so soon.

"We exceeded our expectations," Gillispie said. "But expectations were fairly low here for a good reason."

Indeed. Gillispie, who came to Texas A&M from Texas-El Paso last March, has engineered a remarkable turnaround at what was one of the nation's worst big-time college basketball programs.

Coming off a winless record in Big 12 play last season, the Aggies (19-8, 8-8) have turned themselves into improbable contenders for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. A&M's 12-win improvement is tied with San Diego for the biggest swing in Division I.

For his role in bringing a taste of success to a traditionally downtrodden program, Gillispie was named the AP's Big 12 coach of the year on Tuesday. Gillispie was an overwhelming winner among the panel of sportswriters that regularly cover the league, earning 21 of 24 votes. Texas Tech's Bobby Knight got two votes and Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson had one.

"It's always nice to receive recognition," Gillispie said. "But I've got more to learn than anyone in the league. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I'm better than I really am."

Before arriving in College Station, Gillispie had already proven he could turn things around quickly.

At UTEP, Gillispie finished 6-24 in his first season but went 24-8 the next year and advanced to the NCAA tournament. That tied for the greatest one-year turnaround in college basketball history.

A&M posed a much bigger challenge for Gillispie because of its history of mediocrity -- the Aggies had only one winning season in the past 15 years and one NCAA tournament berth in the past 25. UTEP, at least, won a national title in 1966 under Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins.

The Aggies finished last in the Big 12 in three of the previous four seasons, including a humiliating 0-16 mark in league play last season under former coach Melvin Watkins. That record included two embarrassing losses to in-state rival Baylor, a team filled out mostly with walk-ons and devastated by scandal in the offseason.

But Gillispie, a native of the tiny West Texas town of Graford, saw lots of potential at a school that had excellent facilities but had almost always treated basketball as little more than a distraction after football season.

Relying heavily on principles that he learned under Kansas coach Bill Self, Gillispie led his new players through grueling practices to instill a blue-collar work ethic. He made them renew their commitment to defense and rebounding, and most importantly, convinced them that playing hard could overcome any disadvantages in talent.

"Coach G is the difference," said forward Antoine Wright, who was named to the AP's Big 12 first-team. "He's turned everything around here and got us believing in ourselves."

A&M won its first 11 games against a nonconference schedule that included games against Prairie View A&M, Texas-Permian Basin, a NAIA school, and Trinity, a Division III school. The Aggies went on to finish 8-8 in league play, their best record in nine years since joining the Big 12.

With the youngest roster in the conference, Gillispie tried all sorts of tactics to keep his team focused throughout the season. After a 14-point loss at Texas Tech on Jan. 15, Gillispie thought up an unusual workout to prevent his players from putting forth another lackluster effort.

"He made us walk through the whole practice," Wright said. "He told us, 'If we're going to walk in games, then we're going to walk in practice.' He even made us stop talking."

However, Gillispie kept Aggies fans talking about basketball even at a school known for its zealous support of the football team. For the first time in more than a decade, the Aggies may have something to focus on in mid-March other than their offseason conditioning program.

A&M is the seventh seed in this week's Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, and will face Kansas State on Thursday. With another win or two, the Aggies could put themselves in a position to go to the NCAA for the first time since 1987.

"I think the future looks bright," Gillispie said. "We've done some things here that nobody thought we could do. I'd like to think we're just getting started."