Northeastern State University Athletics

A masterful motivator and consummate competitor, Gipson has led Northeastern to an NCAA Division II national championship, four NCAA Tournament appearances and five Lone Star Conference North Division titles in 11 seasons. 

His 200 wins is third best behind legendary coaches Jack Dobbins (314 wins) and Ken Hayes (224 wins), but his winning percentage (.689) is by far the best in school history.  He also reached his 100^th & 200^th NSU coaching victory more quickly than any previous RiverHawks mentor.  His NSU record is 200-120 as he enters his 12^th season in 2008-09.

Gipson was named the 2003 Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), earned the Molten/Division II Bulletin Coach of the Year award and was a coach at the USA Basketball Trials in the summer of 2003.  He also received the top coaching honors in the South Central Region and Lone Star Conference North Division. The LSC award was his fifth straight.  Gipson has coached more the 30 players who have played professionally.

The NCAA title was the first for Northeastern State in any sport and the first championship won the RiverHawks in 67 years of basketball.  Gipson was inducted into the NSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 for his outstanding coaching feat in 2003.

Northeastern State isn’t the only institution which has reaped the benefits of Gipson’s coaching prowess.  He led the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (Miami, Okla.) to the NJCAA national championship in 1989 and logged a 217-87 record during his tenure.  After a five-year stint at the University of Toledo, Gipson left the coaching profession for one year before heading to Tahlequah.  Gipson’s overall coaching record stands at 485-276 (.637).

He says basketball is his “passion” and Gipson is quick to list the legendary Henry Iba as his mentor.  The Ohio native earned his bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg College in 1974 and 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, is a member of the Board of Directors for the NABC and was recently selected as the fourth Vice President for the NABC.

Gipson is married to Jennifer Craver.  Gipson’s younger brother, Randy, is the women’s head basketball coach at Northeastern State, the only brother duo in America to coach the same sports of different genders.