James H. Gardner

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James Hamlin "Jack" Gardner (born March 29, 1910 in Texico , New Mexico , † April 9, 2000 in Salt Lake City , Utah ) was an American basketball player and coach. He worked in the field of college basketball of the NCAA from 1940 to 1953 as head coach at Kansas State University and then until 1971 in the same capacity at the University of Utah . With both teams, he made it into the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship twiceTournament. For his work and achievements, he was named National Coach of the Year in 1970 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.

Life

Jack Gardner was born in Texico in 1910 and graduated from the University of Southern California in 1934 with a Masters degree in Education . He played basketball while studying for the USC Trojans , the sports department of the university, and in his final year team captain and most valuable player (was Most Valuable Player , MVP) appointed the team. While still a student, he coached a team for the Amateur Athletic Union in 1933/34 , and from 1934 to 1936 he then worked as a coach at a high school in Alhambra, California . He then took over from 1936 to 1940 the team of the Modesto Junior College in Modesto , with which he won the state championship three times during this time.

From 1940 to 1953 he served, with interruption through military service during World War II , at Kansas State University as the head coach of the Kansas State Wildcats , at which his previous assistant Tex Winter was his successor. He then moved to the University of Utah , where he was the head coach of the Runnin 'Redskins until 1971 . He then coached the University of Utah golf team until 1978 and then worked from 1979 to 1991 as a consultant for the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Based on his recommendation, the team hired in the NBA Draft, among others , John Stockton , who played for the basketball team at Gonzaga University , who then worked for the Utah Jazz from 1984 to 2003 and is considered one of the best point guards in NBA history.

Jack Gardner was married and father of one son from 1935 until his wife's death in 1996. He died in Salt Lake City in 2000 .

Sporting successes

Jack Gardner led the Kansas State Wildcats in 1948 in the Final Four round of the last four teams and in the 1951 final of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, and also won three conference titles with the team. With the Runnin 'Redskins , with whom he won seven championships in various conferences , he reached the semi-finals of the state championship in 1961 and 1966 and the Elite Eight round of the last eight teams in 1956 . Overall, he and his teams qualified eight times for participation in the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship and twice for the National Invitation Tournament . His overall record as a coach in college basketball was 486 wins and 235 losses.

Jack Gardner was the first and, alongside Rick Pitino and Roy Williams, one of three coaches in the history of college basketball, who led two different teams twice each into the Final Four of the state championship. In recognition of his achievements as a coach, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984, the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 , the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. In 1970 he was named National Coach of the Year .

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personal data
SURNAME Gardner, James H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gardner, Jack (nickname); Gardner, James Hamlin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American basketball player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Texico , New Mexico
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 2000
Place of death Salt Lake City , Utah