Howard Clifford "Bully" Gilstrap (August 31, 1901-January 4, 1989) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

and

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coach and athlete. He was the head coach of the Texas basketball program from 1942 to 1945 and took them to their first NCAA Final Four appearance in 1943. That season he coached the Longhorns to a 43–28 record. Before going into coaching, Gilstrap was an athlete at Texas, lettering in football (1921-23), basketball (1922) and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

(1922-23). In 1921, as an end, he led the team in scoring with 8 touchdowns. In 1922 he was awarded the Bellmont Cup as Texas' outstanding track and field athlete. In 1923 he was a member of the first Texas football team to beat A&M at Kyle Field, won the Southwest Conference Championship in the javelin and helped the team win the SWC track title. He graduated in 1924. In 1925 he became the Athletic Director at Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, Texas, which was then an-all boys military junior college. He was also the head coach for football, basketball, and track during his time as director. In 1926 he led the team to a 10-0 record, defeating teams like

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

, St. Mary's, Sul Ross and McMurray; in 1929 he led them to another undefeated season going 9-0-1; and in 1935 he led them to the state junior college championship. In 1937, Gilstrap returned to Texas to serve as an assistant coach on the Longhorns football team. He held that job for 20 seasons, under coaches Dana X. Bible, Blair Cherry and Ed Price from 1937 through 1956 and helped the team win six SWC titles and six bowl victories - including four Cotton Bowls. While an assistant coach with the football team, he also served as the basketball coach for 3 seasons, starting in 1943, when Jack Gray went to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He led the team to the Southwest Conference Championship and the NCAA Tournament in his first year, taking them to their first Final Four appearance. He stepped away in when Gray returned in 1945. He left coaching in 1956 but continued to teach at Texas into the mid-1970's. He was inducted into the University of Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 1968 for his contributions as a player and a coach. He was also inducted into the Schreiner Hall of Honor as a faculty honoree. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his farm near Rosebud, Texas on January 4, 1989. Gilstrap was the brother of Claude "Chena" Gilstrap, head football coach and athletic director at Texas-Arlington.

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilstrap, Bully Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Williamson County, Texas People from Taylor, Texas Schreiner Mountaineers football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches Texas Longhorns football players Texas Longhorns men's basketball coaches Texas Longhorns men's basketball players

Head coaching record

Football

Basketball

See also

References