Gordon C. Stauffer (May 21, 1930 – September 23, 2019) was an American

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 was the head men's basketball coach at Indiana State University; leading their transition from NCAA College Division (now Division II) to Division I and membership in the Midwestern Conference and ultimately the Missouri Valley Conference. Stauffer also coached at

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 u ...

Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) was a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1964, IPFW was a cooperatively-managed regional campus of two state university systems: Indiana University and Purdue University. ...

(IPFW), at

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergra ...

, and his last college position was at Nicholls State, where he coached the Colonels from 1981 to 1990, again leading the school through a transition period from Division II to Division I.

Playing career

A Fort Wayne, Indiana South High star, led the Archers to Sectional and Regional titles in his Junior season (1947); he was tabbed 'Honorable Mention All-State' and attended

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

on a basketball scholarship. While at Michigan State, he was a member of their first

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

team, and was the second-leading scorer in 1952. He lettered three seasons for the Spartans. He was coached by two coaches, most notably Hall-of-Famer Pete Newell. Stauffer was drafted in the

1952 NBA draft The 1952 NBA draft was the sixth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 26, 1952, before the 1952–53 season. In this draft, ten remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basket ...

by the

Indianapolis Olympians The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University--now known as Hin ...

. While he was the first Michigan State player ever picked in an NBA draft, he never played for the Olympians.

Coaching career

To begin his coaching career, Stauffer moved into the high school coaching ranks in his home state of Indiana, where he coached the Royerton Redbirds from 1955 to 1959. He left Royerton to move into the college coaching ranks at the University of South Carolina, where he assisted Walt Hambrick and Bob Stevens; he then moved to the University of Oklahoma with Bob Stevens as the top assistant. He got his first head coaching job with Washburn University; after a winning season in his first year, he moved up the ranks to Indiana State. After eight seasons in Terre Haute at Indiana State, he took the head job at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne. He then spent two seasons at Geneva College, leading them to the

NCCAA The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) is an association of Christian universities, colleges, and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada whose mission is "the promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate athletic c ...

playoffs in each season. After Geneva College, Stauffer spent nine seasons at Nicholls State before retiring to Florida.

Personal life

Stauffer died on September 23, 2019, at age 89. Stauffer was preceded by his son in death. He left behind his two daughters, his wife, and four grandchildren.

Head coaching record

References