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Guess who’s back in Lubbock? Billy Gillispie returns after four days at the Mayo Clinic

Oklahoma Texas Tech Basketball

Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie celebrates with fans after defeating Oklahoma in an NCAA college basketball game in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Zach Long)

AP

After a four-day stay at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to be treated for high blood pressure and a stress disorder, embattled Texas Tech head coach Billy Gillispie returned to Lubbock on Friday afternoon according to KAMC-TV in Lubbock.

Gillispie left for Mayo after a wild couple of weeks in which there were nasty allegations in regards to his treatment of players and a heart attack (or stroke) scare.

And athletic director Kirby Hocutt prohibited him from having any contact with the men’s basketball program until the two met in regards to the current state of the program.

Gillispie’s return came as a surprise to Texas Tech administrators according to RedRaiderSports.com, and apparently Gillispie sent Hocutt a text message earlier in the day that led folks to believe that he would remain at the Mayo Clinic.

Multiple sources told RedRaiderSports.com that university officials were “shocked” to see Gillispie return after less than three full days at the Mayo Clinic. Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt received a text message from Gillispie at 2:35 p.m. Friday afternoon that stated he was still undergoing tests and waiting to meet with more doctors. University officials were not given any indication of Gillispie’s plans to leave the Mayo Clinic and were surprised by news reports that he had returned to Lubbock.

That’s certainly...interesting.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas Tech spokesperson Blayne Beal said that there was no word in regards to plans of Gillispie and Hocutt having a meeting.

Assistant coach Chris Walker remains in charge of the program, and hopefully there’s some sort of face-to-face interaction between Gillispie and Hocutt in the very near future.

With the season less than a month away and your leading returning scorer saying that he won’t play for Gillispie, Texas Tech needs to figure all of this out.

Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.