A timeline of how Texas Tech went from the Billy Gillispie era to the hiring of former Kentucky and Minnesota coach Tubby Smith on Tuesday.   August 31, 2012 Texas Tech basketball coach Billy Gillispie checks into a local hospital after suffering from what he said felt like “a stroke or heart attack.” Gillispie spent several days in the hospital, and it was later revealed he was suffering from stress-related issues. Reports also came to light of possible mistreatment of players during practices.   September 5, 2012

There is nothing more Chris Walker could have done. That is what Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said Tuesday about the man who guided the Red Raiders as an interim coach this season, taking the job just three weeks before the start of official practices in October in the wake of a tumultuous saga that ended in the resignation of Billy Gillispie. Walker, heading a young and inexperienced team, didn’t win a lot of games (11-20, 3-15 in Big 12 play), but support for him grew as the season progressed, both from fans and from the players on his roster.

Tubby Smith had no vision of stepping away from coaching following his dismissal from Minnesota last week. He also didn’t expect to be boarding a plane to West Texas just a few days after he landed on the unemployment line. “It’s been a whirlwind,” Smith said Tuesday, April 2, while being introduced as Texas Tech’s 16th basketball coach. “(Tech officials) flew down to North Carolina and we met. In fact, we were just going to talk, and they indicated, ‘Well, we have two empty seats on the plane.’ ”

Texas Tech is in talks with Tubby Smith to become its next head coach, the Associated Press reported late Saturday, citing unnamed sources. Smith was in Lubbock on Thursday, along with his wife Donna, to meet with Tech officials about the position. He left Texas on Friday, though it wasn’t immediately clear at the time whether he did so with an official offer in hand. Attempts by the Avalanche-Journal to reach Smith have been unsuccessful.