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Former Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie accused of verbal abuse by mother of teenage camper

Billy Gillispie

Billy Gillispie, ousted as head coach at Texas Tech this week, has another matter on his hands, according to the Associated Press.

In a report published Friday, the AP reports that the mother of a teenage boy who attended one of Gillispie’s summer camps wrote a letter to a top Texas Tech administrator, alleging that Gillispie verbally abused her son while at camp.

From the AP:

The woman wrote that other coaches at the camp told her son that Gillispie “likes to pick someone and try to `break them’ for some reason,” and that the young man “wasn’t doing anything wrong,” according to a letter to Texas Tech’s chancellor obtained through an open records request.

According to the mother’s letter, her son overthrew a pass to a fellow camper, which sparked the reaction from Gillispie.

“It happens,” the mother wrote, as reported by the AP. “That’s the only thing he thought brought on the barrage of insults spurted from the mouth of your coach Gillispie. This was the first of many such verbal attacks.”

Gillispie has been hospitalized multiple times in recent weeks, which is the official reason for his resignation, though accusations of player mistreatment by the coach have been swirling in media reports at the same time.

Among the claims are accusations that Gillispie forced players to practice over the time allowed by the NCAA, causing injury to his players.

Gillispie was set to begin his second year at Texas Tech before his resignation.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_