Billy Gillispie is returning to the Big 12 as coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Gillispie has agreed to a five-year contract, the school said Sunday in a news release.

"I am absolutely confident that he will lead our basketball program back to the national spotlight while positively representing our university," athletic director Kirby Hocutt said in the statement. "There are exciting years ahead for Red Raider basketball."

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal first reported Gillispie's hiring Sunday, which comes four days after the former Kentucky and Texas A&M coach interviewed with the newly installed Hocutt.