Illinois State women’s basketball head coach Kristen Gillespie has signed a one-year contract extension to remain the Redbirds’ head coach through the 2028-29 season, ISU Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs announced Monday.
She has guided Illinois State to a 132-82 record in seven seasons at the helm of the program. Illinois State has earned four-consecutive postseason bids under Gillespie, including the program’s first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in 14 years during the 2021-22 campaign. Last season Illinois State posted a 22-12 record, marking consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since 2009-10 and 2010-11. This came on the heels of Illinois State’s first MVC Regular season title since 2010 during the 2022-2023 campaign. For her efforts, Gillespie was named the MVC Coach of the Year becoming the first Illinois State selection since Stephanie Glance was awarded the honor in 2012.
Since 2020-2021 the Redbirds lead all women’s basketball programs in the state of Illinois with 81 total wins and a 64.8 winning percentage.
“Thank you to President Tarhule, Dr. Beggs and Leanna Bordner for their continued support of our program and the trust they have placed in me,” Gillespie said. I absolutely love being a Redbird and being ingrained in the BloNo community. I look forward to adding more championships to the rich tradition that Jill Hutchison started 50 years ago.”
When Gillespie was brought on in 2017, the team was coming off three-straight single-digit win seasons and a 2-28 campaign in 2014-15. Gillespie turned in ISU’s first winning season in six years in her second season, went on to post back-to-back 19-win campaigns during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons before finally earning an invitation to the WNIT in 2021, the Redbirds’ first postseason appearance in eight years. 2024 marked Illinois State’s third bid to the WNIT under Gillespie.
“Our women’s basketball program has been one of the most consistently successful in our department for the past several seasons, and much of that is due to the leadership and guidance Kristen provides,” ISU Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs said. “In her seven seasons as the leader of our program, Kristen has led her teams to six-straight winning seasons, multiple championships, postseason appearances and national prominence. She has been a tremendous leader and mentor for our student-athletes, building relationships on and off the court that will last well into the future. We have no doubts that this program will have continued success in the future, and we will support her and her staff in any way we can.”
Gillespie has coached 15 All-MVC selections at ISU including four MVC Newcomers of the Year (Simone Goods, TeTe Maggett, Juliunn Redmond, Paige Robinson), an MVC Sixth Player of the Year (Redmond), an MVC Most Improved Player (Mary Crompton), a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Crompton), a MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player (Redmond) and most recently a MVC Jackie Stiles Player of the Year (Robinson). Robinson also became the first Illinois State women’s basketball player to be selected in the WNBA Draft in program history, when she was selected in the third round, 31st overall, by the Dallas Wings in 2023.
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