The first coaching candidate with Division I head-coaching experience has expressed interest for the men’s basketball vacancy at Eastern.

Florida A&M head coach Mike Gillespie confirmed he has granted permission for the school to pursue other coaching opportunities, which includes applying for the Eastern job.

“I have always been intrigued at EIU and felt like they should always have success,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie feels his reputation is perfect for the current situation that director of athletics Rich McDuffie is looking at.

“I have always been able to rebuild programs, whether it be junior college, Division II and low D-I,” Gillespie said. “They are down on their luck right now and have fallen on hard times so they need a change.”

Gillespie said he had not been contacted by Eastern or McDuffie except an e-mail saying they’d received his credentials. Gillespie does intend to start a conversation with McDuffie and search committee chair Bud Fischer.

“I think they’ll really like me if we can sit down together,” Gillespie said. “It’s simply a matter of getting them to talk to me.”

Gillespie broke into the college ranks at St. Leo in Dade City, Fla., before accumulating a 258-56 record in a decade at Tallahassee Community College. Four years ago, Gillespie took the job with the Rattlers, which was rated one of the worst D-I programs in the country.

“This program was left for dead, and I’m the guy who brought it back to the NCAA Tournament,” Gillespie said.

The Rattlers made the big dance two years ago with a 14-15 record after winning the Mideastern Athletic Conference Tournament.

“We won the play-in game, and with 12 minutes left against Kentucky, we were down by two,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie currently has a 55-67 record at Florida A&M, but the veteran coach says that because of inefficiencies in the athletic department, that stat is very vague.

“We’ve played 21 guarantee games in my four years here. Last year we played Illinois, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Florida,” Gillespie said. “In non-guarantee games, I’m 55-42 along with being .500 in the conference four straight years.”

Gillespie’s recent success with the Rattlers may have much to do with his ability to recruit athletes in all regions and his high-scoring intense philosophy on the court.

“He plays that 94-foot style that our fans love,” Florida A&M assistant Mike Gillespie Jr. said. “He will tell the kids at Eastern, ‘You have to give me three hours of practice because you can’t give me less and you won’t be able to give me more.'”

“I’ve seen him throw coaches out of practice for not being ready to go.”

The Rattlers will take the floor next season with five players from the Chicago Public High School League, and currently the Panthers have none. Gillespie has a unique way of acquiring this type of talent.

“My father is a take-or-leave-it recruiter, and those city kids really draw to that,” Gillespie Jr. said. “I’ve seen him look a young man in the eye and say tell me the other schools you are considering so that when you go there, we will schedule you and kick your ass.”

The father and son combination would love to bring their act to Charleston.

Both of them are confident they can bring success to the Panther program immediately.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that in two years we would win the league and in four or five be dominating the OVC,” Gillespie Jr. said. “It’s just a matter of somebody looking beyond what’s on paper.”