Gary Blair

Gary Claude Blair (born August 10, 1945) is a retired women's basketball head coach. He coached for 37 years closing with Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball, who he coached from 2003 until his retirement in 2022. In his 37 years as a collegiate head coach, Blair only suffered two losing seasons, He earned his master's degree in education from the school in 1974.

When head women's basketball coach Marsha Sharp retired from Texas Tech in 2006, Blair got calls from his friends to take over the position. Blair stated, "It wasn't the right fit or the right time. Timing is everything in coaching." He was initially the boy's P.E. teacher, while waiting for an offer to coach the baseball team, but when asked to coach the girls' team, he accepted.

In his seven seasons at South Oak Cliff, he set a state record with five consecutive state tournament appearances and a 239–18 record. His teams won three state Class 4A championships, in 1977, 1978, and 1980, and finished as the runner-up in 1979 by only two points. For his efforts, Blair was inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame. After winning the first state championship, he was offered the head baseball job he had been waiting for, but he turned it down to remain coaching the women's teams. During his five seasons there, Louisiana Tech reached the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament four times, winning two national championships.

Blair was inducted into the Ladyjack Hall of Fame during halftime of the Ladyjacks game against the Aggies on December 2, 2008.

Arkansas (1993–2003) As the head coach of the women's basketball team at Arkansas, Blair compiled a 198–120 record. During his first season, the Lady Razorbacks won 15 of their 29 games, their first winning season in several years. The following year his team, which consisted of 9 freshmen and sophomores, won 23 games and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. taking over the Big 12 Conference's worst team, which had not had a winning season in seven years. In his first season with Texas A&M, Blair worked very hard to attract fans to the women's basketball games, and by the end of the season attendance had increased 71 percent over the previous year, the best increase in the Big 12 Conference.

The following year the Aggies improved, earning a postseason invitation for the first time since 1996.

Following their successful season, Blair was named the Women's Basketball News Service National Coach of the Year.

Overall, in his first three years as the head coach of the Aggies, A&M home attendance increased 156%, with a school-record 11,088 fans watching the team play Baylor University.

On February 20, 2008, Blair posted his 500th career win as a head coach at Reed Arena against the Iowa State Cyclones.

In the 2007–08 season, Blair led his squad to a school-first NCAA Elite Eight appearance and a 29–8 overall record. The team also won the 2008 Big 12 conference tournament title. In the NCAA tournament, the team lost to eventual national champion Tennessee. After the season, the Texas A&M Board of Regents approved a one-year contract extension through 2012, and a $150,000 salary raise to $800,000 annually.

On March 29, 2011, Gary Blair led the program to its first ever Final Four appearance by defeating top-seeded Baylor 58–46.

On April 3, 2011, the Aggies defeated top-seeded Stanford 63–62 to advance to the national title game. Two days later, the Aggies defeated Notre Dame 76–70 in the championship game to win the tournament for the first time in school history. Blair, 65, also became the oldest women's coach to win a national championship.

Gary Blair was also selected as a 2012 namesake for Texas A&M's extended orientation camp, "Fish Camp".

On October 28, 2021, Blair announced he would retire from coaching at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.

USA Basketball Gary Blair was named the assistant coach of the 1996 R. William Jones Cup Team. The competition was held in Taipei, Taiwan. The USA team was dominant, winning their games by an average off 33 points per game. The USA team won their opening seven games, behind the scoring leadership of Sheri Sam, who averaged 13 points per game. In the eighth game, they played undefeated Slovakia, in a game that would determine the gold medal. The USA fell behind; Slovakia had a 22–15 lead. The USA came back, but was still behind at halftime. The game was tied at 45 all, when the USA hit several free throws to take a lead they would not give up. The USA team won the game and the championship 72–62. In the final game, the USA beat South Korea to finish the competition with a perfect 9–0 record. 2013 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame 2009 Southland Conference Hall of Honor inductee 2008 Stephen F. Austin State University Ladyjack Hall of Fame inductee 2007 Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year 2007 Naismith College Coach of the Year finalist 2007 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year 2006 Women's Basketball News Service National Coach of the Year 2003 Naismith Coach of the Year Finalist 2002 Texas High School Basketball Hall of Famer 1996 U.S. Jones Cup Team Assistant Coach 1995 Basketball Times National Coach of the Year 1995 Women's Basketball News Service National Coach of the Year Five-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year (1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993) Five-time District VI Converse Coach of the Year

Hall of Fame

Blair was inducted in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2013. Joe McKeown, the head women's basketball coach at Northwestern delivered the introduction speech by videotape. 30em