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  Gary Blair

Gary Blair

Player Profile

Position:
Head Coach
Alma Mater:
Texas Tech '72, '74

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, Blair has guided the Aggies to a program-best No. 3 ranking in the national polls and a school-record four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances including a historic run to the Elite Eight in 2008 and Sweet 16 in 2009. A&M has compiled an impressive 104-32 (.765) record over the last four years under Blair and continues to reach new heights.

In fact, he is one of only two all-time NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches to lead three different teams to the NCAA Sweet 16. He currently ranks 19th in career victories and 29th by percentage among active Division I coaches with an impressive 537-229 overall record (.701).

In 2008, the Aggies made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight with a Sweet 16 victory over Duke and a close loss to eventual national champion Tennessee in the Oklahoma City Regional Final. A&M earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning its first-ever postseason Big 12 Conference Championship in Kansas City to go next to its 2007 regular-season championship title.

A&M went on to compile the most victories in school history with a 29-8 overall record that included a program-best 12-game winning streak. By year's end, the Aggies finished a school-best No. 8 in the final Associated Press and USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Polls to put them among the nation's elite in women's college basketball for the second-straight season. Morenike Atunrase and A'Quonesia Franklin closed out their storied four-year A&M careers by being selected in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars and Sacramento Monarchs respectively.

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. Blair also holds the distinction of being one of only five coaches in NCAA history to take three schools to the NCAA Tournament and is the winningest women's basketball coach in school history by percentage (.662).

His overall record is even more impressive with a .701 winning percentage over the course of his 24-year coaching 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 continuing to elevate Texas A&M into one of the nation's elite programs after just six seasons in Aggieland where he has put together a 129-66 record including four consecutive 20-win campaigns since 2005.

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 279 percent and season tickets sales by 276 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 (27) and Matt (23), and one grandson, Logan Carter (6). Paige recently married Beau Thompson, head boys' basketball coach at Farmington High School in Farmington, Ark.

THE BLAIR FILE

COACHING HONORS

▪ 2009 Southland Conference Hall of Honor Inductee

▪ 2008 Stephen F. Austin Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee

▪ 2007 Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year

▪ 2007 Naismith 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

▪ 2006 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches 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 District VI Converse Coach of the Year

COACH BLAIR INSIDE THE NUMBERS

▪ 1 NCAA Final Four Appearances (1998)

▪ 2 NCAA Elite Eight Appearances (1998 and 2008)

▪ 1 WNIT Championship (1999)

▪ 15 NCAA Tournament Appearances

▪ 7 NCAA Sweet 16 Appearances

▪ 18 20-Win Seasons

▪ 20 Postseason Appearances

▪ 23 Winning Seasons In 24 Years

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