Hall of Fame
Andre Gillespie is a Pagedale, Mo., native and attended Normandy High School. In the fall of 1982, Gillespie become a key reserve on a Truman football team that went undefeated in the league and 9-2 overall, rising to as high as fourth in the national Division II poll. Gillespie carried the ball 27 times as a rookie for 126 yards and three TDs, contributing to an offense that racked up 425.6 yards (fourth in NCAA) and 40 points (best in the nation) per contest. He was the team's top rusher, with 41 yards on 10 carries, in the team's NCAA postseason playoff loss to Jacksonville State (Ala.), Truman's first NCAA postseason appearance. Gillespie was injured in the seventh game of his sophomore season. However, he carried the ball 87 times for 355 yards and three touchdowns. Gillespie pounded out 795 yards on 175 carries, and three TDs as a junior. He notched four 100-yard games, the biggest being a 126-yard effort, and was named second-team all-MIAA. In 1985, the team captain blazed the way for an offense that led Division II in total offense (471.4 ypg) and that finished fourth in the nation in scoring (32.5 ppg) on the way to an 8-3 record, an MIAA championship, and a No. 11 ranking in the final DII poll. Gillespie amassed 1,201 yards on 215 rushes and scored eight touchdowns. His 109.2 yards per game was good for sixth in the nation, and he reached 100 yards in nine games, including a career-best 158-yard day. Gillespie's 78 points scored was the 13th-most in the nation. He was again a first-team all-MIAA pick and was also named to the Football News' first all-America team and was an honorable mention pick on the Associated Press Little All-America team. Gillespie finished his career as the fifth-most productive rusher in Bulldog history, amassing 2,477 yards on 504 carries and scoring 17 TDs, which still ranks seventh all-time at Truman. Gillespie was one of 14 running backs chosen to the 1900-1999 Truman All-Century football team last year. He has worked for the University City Public School system in St. Louis for the past six years, and has been an Operations Supervisor for five years. Gillespie and his wife, Jeanette, have a son, Andre, Jr., who is 9-years-old, and another sun, Curtis, who was born this past September.
