(Press conference audio)

 
Gipson will step down after leading NSU for the past 17 seasons. He currently has a career record of 276-198 at Northeastern State. His all-time collegiate coaching record stands at 561-358, and he is 332-256 at the NCAA level.
 
His 276 career victories place him second at Northeastern State behind only Jack Dobbins (314), and his .582 winning percentage is the best in school history. He reached the 100- and 200-win milestones faster than any other coach in program history.
 
Gipson has led NSU to nine winning seasons, five 20-win campaigns and five appearances in the NCAA Championship tournament (1999-03, 2013). His marquee season came in 2002-03, when he guided his team to a 32-3 record and the lone NCAA Division II National Championship in school history. The 2003 title is also the only national championship won in Redmen/RiverHawks basketball history. Gipson was inducted into the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004 for his outstanding coaching feat.
 
"Mentor, teacher, respected, competitive, caring, gracious, philosophical, analytical, and excellence are only a few terms to describe the coach and person that personify Larry Gipson," NSU Director of Athletics Tony Duckworth said. "Larry has reached the pinnacle of his career by winning two national championships and serving as president of college men's basketball's national organization (NABC). He is one of the most well-respected basketball coaches in the nation, and I will personally miss working with him on a daily basis. I anticipate Larry will excel in the next stage of his life as he did during his 40 years in the business."
 
Gipson was appointed by his peers as the President of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in April 2012 and served in that capacity until April 2013. On the NABC Board of Directors under Gipson, there were 14 NCAA Division I coaches, two NCAA Division II coaches and two NCAA Division III coaches. Notables on the board were Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Bill Self (Kansas), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh), Brad Stevens (Butler), Mark Gottfried (NC State), Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Phil Martelli (St. Joseph's), and Johnny Dawkins (Stanford). The NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, legendary coach at the University of Kansas.
 
Gipson began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Tulsa under famed coach Nolan Richardson. He and Richardson are the only two head coaches ever to lead teams to a national championship at both the NCAA and NJCAA levels. Gipson, Richardson and Ray Harper (NCAA D-II, NAIA) are the only three coaches in college basketball history to win national titles at two different levels.
 
Gipson has won three national coach of the year honors throughout his career. He was named the 2003 NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), he earned the 2003 Molten/Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year award and he was also the 1989 NABC National Junior College Coach of the Year.
 
He also received the top coaching honors in the south central region in 2009 and was named the Lone Star Conference North Division Coach of the Year on five occasions. Gipson has coached more than 30 players who have played professionally. He was also a coach at the USA Basketball Trials in summer 2003.
 
Perhaps one of his most impressive feats came in 2012-13, when he returned to the bench following a year off from beating prostate cancer. The 2011-12 team finished just 5-21, but Gipson returned with a renewed vigor and led NSU to a 19-9 record and a berth in the NCAA Championship tournament for the first time in 10 years. Northeastern State also finished in third place at 12-6 in league play in its inaugural season as members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
 
Gipson won his first national title at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (Miami, Okla.), where he led the Golden Norsemen to the 1989 NJCAA National Championship. He logged a 217-87 record during his tenure at NEO, serving as head coach from 1982-91.
 
Gipson then spent five years from 1991-96 as head coach at the University of Toledo. He compiled a 68-73 record at the helm of the Rockets, and he posted winning seasons each of his last three campaigns. He then left the coaching profession for one year before heading to Tahlequah.
 
The Ohio native earned his bachelor's degree from Heidelberg College in 1974 and received a master's degree from The University of Tulsa in 1984. In addition to coaching basketball at NSU, Gipson is an instructor in the College of Education at Northeastern State.
 
Gipson has been part of the HPK faculty since his arrival at Northeastern State. He will complete faculty responsibilities, any remaining men's basketball related matters and then assist Duckworth with various duties the remainder of the spring 2014 semester.
 
A retirement reception for Gipson will be held in April. The date and time will be announced at a later date.
 
A national search for Gipson's replacement will begin at the conclusion of the NCAA Division II regular season. Follow @NSUCoachSearch on twitter for updates.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH LARRY GIPSON
Opening Statement…
"I've coached since 1974. I've had a tremendous run. This is my 40th year in the business and 37 of those years I've been a head coach. I think it's the appropriate time to step down. I've enjoyed my time here, but in terms of the long-term health of the program and mine and my wife's long-term health, I think it's the appropriate thing to do. I don't think there is ever a time when you know exactly what you should do, but for me it just feels right that I make this move."
 
On being able to retire on his own terms…
"One of the unfortunate aspects of the coaching profession is very few coaches get to choose when they want to get out of the business. It's a tough, demanding job. It's not like some jobs where, as you get into your later stages of life and head towards retirement, you can back off a little bit. It's a job that demands your full attention. For me to be able to make this decision, I feel good about the accomplishments we've had. I feel good about the young men I've coached here. I feel good about the Northeastern State community, and I look forward to being a supporter and booster of everything NSU. I've had the opportunity to work for some really good people here. I've had the opportunity to coach some really great kids, and I'm forever grateful for that."
 
On his legacy…
"I only hope that my legacy is that the people I've worked with and been around have learned just a little bit compared to what I've learned from them. I hope that, in my profession, I've helped make the world just a little bit of a better place for some young people. I hope I have given them some vision and definition to their lives, and maybe taught them some traits and lifetime skills that they can use as they go forward. Most coaches are frauds in that all of our success comes on the backs of our players. One of the secrets I learned from some older coaches is that we learn much more from our players then what they learn from us in many instances. It's a true privilege to work with young people. In assessing this decision, the hardest thing for me was to know that I might not be intensely involved with working with young people. Hopefully I can, in some capacity, serve the university in the future and that will enable me to stay young at heart and stay attached to these kids."
 
On the timing of the decision to retire…
"There is a whole list of reasons. I've talked to a number of old coaches as my career has progressed and guys have retired. I remember talking with coach (Jack) Dobbins about retirement one time years ago when I wasn't contemplating retirement. I asked him when you know that it's time to get out of the business, and he said you just know. The bus trips will get you. I have called up other colleagues to congratulate them when they retired, and the main theme among them is that the traveling will eventually get you. In my case, I'm very passionate about walking on the floor and coaching. I love running a practice and I enjoy the excitement of the games, win or lose. I know why I feel good when we're winning, and I know why I'm struggling when we lose. I just don't have the passion anymore for some of the other aspects of the job that I think are necessary. I don't like to be on the road recruiting for long periods of time. Another reason, as has been well-documented, is my wife and I both have had health challenges in the last few years. I joke about this, but we're relatively healthy right now; maybe as healthy as we're going to be. This gives us an opportunity to do some things. In the coaching profession, I've said many times, it's better to quit one year too soon than to go two years too long. I just feel like this is the appropriate time. I read an article about Bear Bryant early in my coaching career. He said his advice to his players that were thinking about going into coaching was that the only way you should become a coach is if you can't live without it. I've slowly moved to the point where I think I can live without some of these things. That's not to say that I won't miss those intensely competitive moments and the highs and lows you get from coaching, but I think I can live without it and it's time to go.
 
On the plans for his future endeavors…
"A lot of retired couples say they're going to travel. My wife and I don't have any serious travel plans other than we have some friends dotted across the country back where we're from in Ohio that we may go visit. We have relatives in Florida and New Jersey, and this gives us an opportunity that we haven't really had to go visit those people. It's really hard when you're trying to do everything in the summer. I'm also hoping to serve the university, maybe as an adjunct teacher. Teaching some classes would be a wonderful thing if I get the opportunity to do that. Also, everybody knows that I love to play golf, so I'm probably going to be seen quite often on the golf course. I don't really know what's next for me at this point. I'm going to have to give it some thought. There may be a second or third act left in me. I'm an active guy. I never seem to have trouble finding things to do in the summer time when I'm not in coaching. I think I will have things to do that I enjoy."
 
On how he is preparing for his final game…
"I'm sure it's going to be emotional. There is some trepidation on my part about what is in the future, but that's not unlike a college graduate taking that first job. It's not unlike an assistant coach moving up to a head coaching position. It's hard to know what's going to happen when you get out of a field where you work as intensely as you have to in coaching, and then suddenly you downshift into a slower gear. There is a little bit of unknown, but if you face the unknown with a good work ethic and a positive attitude, things will work out.
 
On the state of the Northeastern State men's basketball program…
"There is a good nucleus back for any new coach to build on. I don't want to put any pressure on the next guy saying what kind of team I've got, but I think there is a good nucleus here. The direction of the university is very positive. With President (Steve) Turner, I'm excited about the future of Northeastern State under his leadership, as well as Tony Duckworth's leadership in the Athletics Department. I joked with Tony the other day that I wish he would have come along about 10 years ago, because I think we would have had this facility 10 years ago. Even still, I'm happy I was able to coach in the event center. I think that we went from worst to first in this situation. We have a tremendous facility and a tremendous university. There are a lot of pluses here. We have good basketball tradition dating back to Jack Dobbins. Our history has gone back a long ways. There are a lot of positives to build on for the next coach. I will be supporting him in any way I can. I really needed a job when I came to Northeastern State. They reached out to me. I forever owe Gil Cloud a debt of gratitude for picking me to be his next basketball coach. I plan on being in Tahlequah and staying in Tahlequah. I am going to be Northeastern State's biggest fan."
 
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