Gary Garner (born September 12, 1943) is an American former

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He led several programs, including

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

and

Southeast Missouri State Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

at the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

level. Garner also coached at Fort Hays State and Dakota State, winning a Division II national championship with Fort Hays in 1996. Raised in

West Plains, Missouri West Plains is a city in, and the county seat of Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,184 at the 2020 census. History The history of West Plains can be traced back to 1832, when settler Josiah Howell (after whom Howell ...

, Garner played college basketball for the Missouri Tigers from 1962 to 1965. Following his playing career, he turned to coaching, leading junior college programs at Kemper Military Academy, Trenton Junior College and Joplin Junior College (now Missouri Southern State University) before accepting an assistant coach role at his alma mater under coach Norm Stewart. He spent four seasons on the Tiger staff, helping to build some of the program's best teams, before landing the head coaching position at

. Following his departure from SEMO, Garner spent two seasons as an assistant for

Nick Nurse Nicholas David Nurse (born July 24, 1967) is an American professional basketball coach, author and former college basketball player. He is the head coach of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Canadian men's ...

with the Iowa Energy of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. Determining that he enjoyed coaching college players more than professionals, Garner accepted the head coaching role at Dakota State University of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA), where he coached for 14 seasons less a short break to be treated for cancer. Taking over a relatively pedestrian program, he led the school to two regular season and two conference tournament titles in the

North Star Athletic Association The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that began play in the 2013–14 school year. The conference currently has eight full member ...

(NSAA). He led the Trojans to four national tournament appearances in a five-year span. Garner retired following the 2022–23 season.

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