EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — One of the best head coaches in UTEP basketball history will return to El Paso on Monday night. Tarleton State men's basketball head coach Billy Gillispie, who was the head coach at UTEP from 2002-2004, will be on the sidelines aiming to lead his squad to a win over the Miners at the Don Haskins Center on Monday. Gillispie is one of the best to ever coach at UTEP despite the short time he spent in El Paso. Gillispie led UTEP to a remarkable turnaround during his tenure. In the 2003-04 season, his first season as UTEP's head coach, the Miners went 6-24. The very next season, Gillispie led UTEP to a 24-8 season, which matched the biggest turnaround in NCAA history. That season, the Miners also received an at-large bid to the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Miners went onto to fall to Maryland, 86-83, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For the first time since he was the coach at UTEP in 03-04, Billy Gillispie will return to The Don to coach a game on Monday with Tarleton State.Have always loved this video of him & the Miners finding out they got an at-large bid to the 2004 Big Dance. pic.twitter.com/TdHYqGCNGV— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaver_) December 13, 2024 After the 2003-04 season, Gillispie left UTEP for the head coaching job at Texas A&M. Gillispie is now in his fifth season at Tarleton State. Gillispie became Tarleton's 15th head coach on March 30, 2020 as the Texans began their transition to NCAA Division I and joined the WAC. In his fourth year with Tarleton State, coach Gillispie was forced to step down due to medical circumstances on Nov. 19, after the first four games of the season, touting a 2-2 record. After being medically cleared on Feb. 1 coach Gillispie chose to let acting head coach Joseph Jones finish out the record-breaking season. Jones who Gillispie added to his staff during his first season with the Texans, was named WAC Coach of the Year after filling in in the 2023-24 season. This will be the first time Gillispie will coach against UTEP since his departure from the program in 2004. UTEP head coach Joe Golding talks about welcoming Billy Gillispie and Tarleton State to town on Monday. Gillispie obviously means a lot to UTEP and to Golding personally; he said Billy was helpful to him when he got the UTEP job. pic.twitter.com/DfbgmgykqS— Colin Deaver (@ColinDeaver_) December 13, 2024 Tipoff for Monday's game at the Don Haskins Center between UTEP and Tarleton State is at 7:00 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Andy Morgan and Bobby Braswell.