Jack Gardner

Jack Gardner (1910-2000)

Teams coached: Kansas State Wildcats, Utah Utes
Kansas State record: 147-81 (.645)
Utah record: 339-154 (.688)
Overall record: 486-235 (.674)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0  (Runner-up in 1951)
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  8  (1948, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1966)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  6  (1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1966)
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  4  (1948, 1951, 1961, 1966)
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  2  (1958, 1970)
• WAC Regular Season Champion:  1  (1966)
• MSC/Skyline Regular Season Champion:  6  (1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962)
• Big Eight Regular Season Champion:  3  (1948, 1950, 1951)

Awards:

• NABC Golden Anniversary Award (1982)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1984)
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1953-1971	Utah
1946-1953	Kansas State
1939-1942	Kansas State
1935-1939	Modesto JC

Jack Gardner Facts

• James H. Gardner
• Born March 29, 1910
• Died April 9, 2000
• Hometown: Texico, New Mexico
• Alma Mater: University of Southern California (BA, 1932 & MA, 1934)
• Born in New Mexico, Gardner attended Redlands HS (CA) and played at USC under head coaches Leo Calland and Sam Barry
• Began his coaching career at the high school and junior college levels in California
  • Won three station championships in four years at Modesto JC (CA)
• Spent ten years – across two stints – as the head coach at Kansas State
  • Led the Wildcats to the NCAA Final Four in 1948 and then again in 1951, finishing Runner-up in the latter
  • Won three Big Eight (then Big Seven) regular season titles in his final seven years at the school
  • Credited with kickstarting the basketball culture at K-State, as the program hadn’t finished above .500 in the 15 years leading up to his second tenure
• Left K-State in 1953 to become the head coach at Utah, where he would coach for the rest of his career
  • Won 339 games at Utah in 18 seasons, going to six NCAA Tournaments (two Final Fours) and two NITs
  • One of just three head coaches to lead to different programs to the Final Four (along with Roy Williams and Rick Pitino)
  • After retiring from basketball coaching in 1971, Gardner spent the next seven years at the Utes’ head golf coach
  • Instrumental in opening the Special Events Center (now the Jon M. Huntsman Center) at Utah in 1969; considered by many as “The House that Jack Built”
• From 1979 through 1995, Gardner worked as a consultant for the NBA’s Utah Jazz; credited as discovering future NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton at Gonzaga
• Member of a number of Hall of Fames: In addition to the two major Halls listed above, Gardner has been inducted into the Kansas Sports HOF (2000), Southern Utah HOF, Utah All-Sports HOF, State of Utah Basketball HOF, Helms Foundation HOF, Kansas State University HOF, Crimson Club (Utah), Modesto JC HOF, Redlands HS HOF
• Along with his late wife, Marion, had one son and three grandchildren

Jack Gardner Coaching Tree

• LaDell Andersen (BYU, Utah Stars, Utah State)
• Bucky Buckwalter (Seattle SuperSonics, Seattle)
• Jerry Pimm (UC Santa Barbara, Utah)
• Howie Shannon (Virginia Tech)
• Tex Winter (Long Beach State, Northwestern, Washington, Kansas State, Marquette)