Billy Gillispie, one of the most successful, yet enigmatic and star-crossed Texas-native coaches in college basketball history, has been told he needs a kidney transplant "ASAP," Gillispie told The Dallas Morning News on Saturday.

Gillispie, 58, had returned to coaching at Ranger College this season, nine months after abruptly retiring in Dec. 2016 due to health concerns caused by high blood pressure.

Ranger started this season 10-2, but Gillispie had not been on the sideline for the past three games, raising questions about his status as Ranger Community College's men's basketball coach and athletic director.

Gillispie told The News that on November 26, a day after coaching a game at Angelina College, he was admitted to Abilene's Hendrick Medical Center. Gillispie said he was treated for pneumonia and that his heart was shocked back into rhythm after tests showed he'd recently had a heart attack.

Two days ago, Gillispie returned to Abilene for a follow-up with a nephrologist.

"She was hoping that things would have changed from two weeks ago when I was in the hospital, but they haven't," Gillispie said.

Gillispie said the doctor told him he is in kidney failure due to years of chronic high blood pressure.

"The next thing she said was, 'Do you have a donor?' " Gillispie said. "I said, 'Well, I didn't know I needed one.'

"As you can imagine, I've been doing a lot of reading, asking questions and all of those things you do when you start feeling life-threatening things."

According to mayoclinic.org, high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can be the result of stress, among many other factors, including diet, excessive alcohol intake and genetics.

A professed workaholic during his high-profile tenures at Texas A&M, Kentucky, Texas Tech, UT-El Paso, Gillispie certainly experienced stress during a roller-coaster ride that carried him to college basketball's mountaintop (Kentucky) and in recent years the community college level.

In September 2012, as Texas Tech officials conducted an investigation into player complaints of excessive practice hours and mistreatment that led to his resignation, Gillispie was treated for high blood pressure concerns by a nephrologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Gillispie said he is scheduled to consult on Monday with the same Mayo Clinic doctor who treated him five years ago, though Gillispie said it's not likely to change the bottom line that he needs a kidney transplant.

Gillispie was reluctant to make public his need for a transplant. But, as a reporter explained to Gillispie on Saturday, increased public awareness can help not only himself, but the estimated 100,000 Americans currently in need of kidney transplants.

"In my whole life, I've never asked anyone for anything," Gillispie said. "I'm still not. One of the biggest things I'm studying right now is, 'What effect, someone who donates a kidney, what effect it has on their life? What dangers? What risks? What longterm effects?

"I don't even know that I would take one [a kidney]. I know that sounds stupid, but I wouldn't take a donated kidney if it was going to have any kind of adverse on anyone. I just wouldn't. I mean, I've had a great life. I would like to be around for whatever'[years], but I'm not selfish in that regard. I'm selfish in some, but not that regard.

"There's a lot of people who have had productive lives after a kidney transplant, so it's not like the Grim Reaper is coming. Now, I've got to take immediate action, but there's a lot of people who are walking around out there with one kidney who are living great lives."

Abilene-born, Graford-raised Gillispie made nine stops at the high school and college-assistant levels before landing his first college head coaching job in 2002, at UTEP. After leading the Miners to a 24-8 record in 2003-2004 and their first conference title in 12 years, Gillispie took over at Texas A&M, becoming the first native Texan to lead that program.

Gillispie went 70-26 in three seasons at A&M, including an NCAA Tournament second-round appearance in 2005-2006 and a Sweet 16 berth the following year.

Then came the chance to coach at Kentucky, a job Gillispie simply couldn't pass up but, in retrospect, probably should have.

After two tumultuous seasons at Kentucky and one at Texas Tech, Gillispie retreated from the spotlight and remained out of coaching from 2012 until 2015, when he quietly resurfaced at his alma mater, Ranger. Early that season he told The News it was the "best job I've ever had."

Gillispie in that first season coached the Rangers to their first national tournament appearance in 47 years, but after the season the National Junior College Athletic Association ruled that a Ranger player, unknowingly to the school, had declared for the NBA draft two years earlier. Ranger had to forfeit all 31 victories, but Gillispie returned to coach last season. Two months later, though, he retired, telling The News in a text message:

"I've been very sick with blood pressure issues since the summer, but I've tried to fight it out. I got a report Monday that told me if I didn't address this blood pressure situation immediately, irreversible, bad things were very likely to happen here relatively soon and my long-term health could be compromised."

Quietly, he returned to the sidelines this season. Why? Gillispie on Saturday explained that over the summer he had returned to a lifelong passion, running, and had lost considerable weight and felt as good as ever.

In early November, however, Gillispie's health declined, though he initially brushed off the symptoms.

"Again, just stupid neglect," he said. "Just thinking, 'You'll get better and this cough will go away and these headaches will go away.' I mean, you do it. Everybody does it. Before you know it, you've created something that's not good.

"I'll tell you this, as a friend, go see your doctor and take care of yourself," he added. "That's what I would tell any friend I have, is, 'Don't do like I did. Take the time and make the effort to find out how healthy you are. Go do it. Don't neglect it.'

"I don't know if I could have helped it not happen, but it wouldn't have hurt."