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Gary Blair, a two-time national finalist for the prestigious Naismith Coach of the Year Award, has brought instant respect to the Texas A&M women's basketball program ever since his appointment in 2003. One of the winningest active Division I coaches in the women's game today, Gary Blair has guided the Texas A&M women's basketball team to a program-best No. 1 ranking in the national polls and a school-record six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances which included a historic run to the program's first national championship last season. Blair led the Aggies to their first national title in their first-ever trip to the NCAA Women's Final Four and closed out the 2010-11 season with a 33-5 record, the most victories in program history. The Aggies held the best turnover margin (+8.03) in the nation and were ranked in the top 25 in nine NCAA statistical categories. A&M led the Big 12 in steals, turnover margin, turnovers and assist-to-turnover ratio. Blair also produced the program's first true All-American in Danielle Adams. She was a first-team honoree by the Associated Press, State Farm and the USBWA in addition to being selected a finalist for such prestigious awards as the Naismith Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy. Most notably, Blair is one of only three all-time NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches to lead two different teams to the NCAA Women's Final Four (Texas A&M and Arkansas). He currently ranks in the top 15 in career victories and in the top 25 by winning percentage among active Division I coaches with an impressive 596-242 overall record (.711). Over the last four years, A&M has put together an impressive 115-29 (.799) record under Blair to mark the best four-year span in school history. A&M is the only program in NCAA history to receive four straight No. 2 seeds (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. In addition, A&M is one of only three elite programs to receive a No. 2 seed or higher in those NCAA Championships along with Connecticut and Stanford. Blair became the all-time winningest women's basketball coach in Texas A&M history with an 84-53 victory over Portland State in the NCAA First Round on March 20, 2010, to surpass 154 career victories compiled by former head coach Lynn Hickey from 1984-1994. The 2007 Big 12 Coach of the Year claimed his 500th career coaching victory against Iowa State on Feb. 20, 2008, to become the 36th all-time Division I coach to reach the milestone in NCAA history. He also holds the distinction of being one of only six coaches in NCAA history to take three schools to the NCAA Tournament. Blair's overall coaching record is most impressive with a .711 winning percentage over the course of his 26-year career which includes stops at Stephen F. Austin from 1985-93 and Arkansas from 1993-03. Blair previously led the Lady Razorbacks to the 1998 NCAA Final Four and the Lady Jacks to four NCAA Sweet 16 appearances. He has followed that path of success by elevating Texas A&M into one of the nation's elite programs where he has put together a 188-79 record (.704) after eight seasons in Aggieland, including six consecutive 20-win campaigns since 2005. What's more is A&M has registered an unprecedented 82-8 (.911) overall success rate at Reed Arena over the last six years. With Blair at the helm, Texas A&M's rise to the top has included runs to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2008 and the Sweet 16 in 2009. The Aggies captured their first Big 12 Conference regular season Championship in 2007 and continued with postseason championship titles in 2008 and 2010 for three overall league crown in the last five years. Under Blair's tutelage, many players have seen success on the hard court after their time at Texas A&M. Six players over the last four years alone have been drafted into the WNBA. In 2011, Sydney Colson and Danielle Adams closed out their storied A&M careers by being selected in the WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty and the San Antonio Silver Stars respectively. Colson became the second A&M player to be taken with the 16th overall pick - the highest selection for any Aggie in a WNBA Draft - and Adams was chosen 20th overall. It marked the second time that Texas A&M had two players selected in a WNBA Draft. One of the most active and involved coaches in the Bryan-College Station community, Blair is a frequent and charismatic speaker at the local Rotary Club as well as other civic and student groups throughout the year. He also hosts the annual Gary Blair Celebrity Golf Classic that benefits Special Olympics Texas. A marketing and public relations guru, Blair has increased awareness about his program and attendance at Reed Arena has increased 335 percent and season tickets sales by over 300 percent due to his one-on-one approach. Blair is a member of three Hall of Fame classes including induction into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Southland Conference Hall of Honor in 2009. A 1963 graduate of Dallas' Bryan Adams High School, Blair was an all-city baseball player. After a tour in the U.S. Marine Corps, he earned his bachelor's degree in health and physical education with a minor in journalism from Texas Tech in 1972. He completed his master's degree in education in 1974 and also played a season of baseball for the Red Raiders. Blair's wife, Dr. Nan Smith-Blair, is the director of nursing at the University of Arkansas. The couple has two children, Paige and Matt, and two grandchildren, Logan (8) and Lola (2). Paige owns a children's boutique in Fayetteville, Ark., and is married to Beau Thompson, head boys' basketball coach at Farmington High School in Farmington, Ark. Matt is a volunteer coach for the UALR women's soccer program and is currently working towards his master's degree at UALR. THE BLAIR FILE COACHING HONORS COACH BLAIR INSIDE THE NUMBERS COACH BLAIR COACHING RESUME |
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