Texas Tech basketball announced the hire of former Indian Hills Community College head coach Jeff Kidder as an assistant coach on Billy Gillispie's staff Wednesday.

Kidder's hire was Gillispie's first hire since adding Villanova's Chris Walker and retaining former Tech assistant coach Bubba Jennings in mid-June.

Click "I'm really excited to have coach Kidder Here to view this Link.join our staff," Gillispie said. "He's a guy that I've known for a long time and he's one of the best coaches, best recruiters, best people I know. A total professional in the entire sense of the word. I think he'll end up being a Hall of Fame guy in the Junior College Hall of Fame. Really excited to have him join our staff."

Kidder's record speaks for itself.

Along the way of a 16-year, 432-109 career record, Kidder earned the 2002 NJCAA Coach of the Year title after winning a national title with a 34-3 record at Dixie State. Kidder has also received 11 regional Coach of the Year awards.

Kidder also has experience at the NCAA Division I level by way of assistant coaching stints at West Texas A&M and Nevada and as an undergraduate assistant under Eddie Sutton at Kentucky.

Like he said of Walker, Gillispie said Kidder is a top-notch recruiter and Kidder reiterated how important recruiting is.

"I love the game of basketball and I love working with young people," Kidder said. "Quite a few years I was a Division I assistant and head coach at three junior colleges. The opportunity to work with young guys and develop their skill level emotionally, physically and mentally, sometimes the reward comes after they leave you but I think relationships are so important.

"Recruiting is the backbone of any program of any sport. You want to be really smart who you bring in and players that we're looking at right now need to fit coach Gilispie's style, our style. We all want to be on the same page."

Kidder said Tech has a lot to sell to recruits.

"When you come on this campus it's electrifying," he said. "It's a great campus. I've been to a lot of campuses across the country whether I worked at there or visited. This is a BCS school, it's a Big 12 school, it's Texas Tech University in the State of Texas. I'm excited and look forward to assisting coach Gillispie in any way I can."

Gillispie said the new assistant will have the same recruiting responsibilities as anyone else on the staff -- Kidder won't be limited to any one area or level.

"We always do relationship recruiting," Gillispie said. "Jeff will be a high school recruiter, a junior college recruiter, he'll be a foreign recruiter, he'll be a transfer recruiter just like everyone else on the staff… We try to recruit relationships, we'll go anywhere to recruit players."

Somewhat strangely, Kidder was believed involved with the Tech program's probation in the mid-1990's.

Then at Howard College, in Big Spring, Texas, Kidder allegedly gave two student-athletes A's in a physical education course that they did not attend. The student-athletes in question would go on to play at Tech -- Mark Davis, a future All-Southwest Conference basketball player, and football player Stephen Gaines.

Kidder was investigated but never punished by the NCAA for any wrong doings.

It was something that Kidder was very open about during his discussions with Gillispie about the job.

"That happened 20 years ago and I told coach Gillispie to make sure you ask any question you want," Kidder said. "Do your due diligence on me, I've been doing basketball for 21 paid seasons going all the way back to when I was at West Texas A&M now. I told coach I want you to feel comfortable and people at Texas Tech to feel comfortable and he's giving me this opportunity and Texas Tech is giving me this opportunity and I'm very grateful."