Gordie Gillespie
| Sport(s) | Football, basketball, baseball |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 14, 1926 |
| Died | February 28, 2015 (aged 88) Joliet, Illinois |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1959–1985 | Joliet Catholic HS (IL) |
| 1986–1993 | St. Francis (IL) |
| Basketball | |
| 1951–1965 | Lewis |
| Baseball | |
| 1951 | Joliet Catholic HS (IL) |
| 1953–1976 | Lewis |
| 1977–1995 | St. Francis (IL) |
| 1996–2005 | Ripon |
| 2006–2011 | St. Francis (IL) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 1,893–952–2 (college baseball) 220–117 (college basketball) 222–54–6 (high school football) |
|
College Baseball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2009 |
|
Gordie Gillespie (April 14, 1926 – February 28, 2015) was an American baseball, football and basketball coach. He was a head baseball coach for 58 years at Lewis University, Ripon College, and the University of St. Francis. With a career coaching record of 1,893–952–2, Gillespie had the most wins of any coach in college baseball history until being passed by Auggie Garrido of Texas in 2014. He had held that record since 1993 when he passed the prior record set by USC's Rod Dedeaux. He won his 1,800th game in April 2009 at age 82. He was also inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Gillespie graduated from Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago, Illinois, and enrolled at DePaul University. He played basketball at DePaul under coach Ray Meyer and toured with the College All-Stars when they played the Harlem Globetrotters.
At age 26, Gillespie began his head coaching career at Lewis University in 1953. He was the head coach at Lewis from 1953 to 1976 and compiled a record there of 634 wins and 241 losses. His Lewis teams won three straight NAIA World Series championships from 1974 to 1976. His Lewis baseball teams also finished among the top five teams nationally in 1962 (3rd), 1963 (5th), 1966 (2nd), 1971 (3rd), and 1972 (5th). Gillespie also coached the Lewis Flyers basketball team from 1950 to 1965.
Gillespie was the head baseball coach at Ripon College in Wisconsin for 10 years from 1996 to 2005. In 10 years at Ripon, he led the Ripon Red Hawks to a record of 239 wins and 130 losses. His Ripon teams advanced to the NCAA III playoffs six of his last seven years and won five league titles.
...
Wikipedia