May 7, 2009
FRISCO, Texas - Texas A&M women's basketball head coach Gary Blair and former NBA star Joe Dumars have been selected as the newest inductees into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor as announced by the league office on Thursday.
As the 32nd and 33rd inductees into the Hall of Honor, the two SLC basketball legends will be enshrined as the "Class of 2009" during the Southland Conference's annual Honor's Ceremony and Dinner on Thursday, May 28 at the San Luis Resort in Galveston, Texas. Blair served as the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball head coach from 1985-93, while Dumars starred on the McNeese State men's basketball team from 1981-85.
"The Southland Hall of Honor welcomes two legendary basketball icons, Joe Dumars and Gary Blair, with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and anticipation," said league commissioner Tom Burnett. "It's hard to find two bigger names in the annals of Southland men's and women's basketball that spans almost half a century of competition. We look forward to a fantastic celebration on May 28."
Since his coaching days in the Piney Woods, Blair has always been an instrumental figure in the women's game and through his off-court philanthropic work. He currently ranks 20th in career victories among active NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches with a 537-229 overall record (.701) and left an unmatched record of success in Nacogdoches and throughout the Southland Conference.
In his first season at SFA, Blair took a team that finished 3-24 the year prior to his arrival, and in just his second season won 25 games and finished 9-1 in the Southland. It was just the beginning of something special as the Ladyjacks averaged 28 wins during Blair's remaining time at SFA. He led the Ladyjacks to a 29-5 overall record and a 13-1 conference mark in 1987-88, winning the first of six consecutive Southland championships.
Blair recorded an overall record of 210-43 (.830), and was an even more incredible 104-8 (.929) in Southland Conference games. He was a five-time Southland Coach of the Year, led the Ladyjacks to six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 four times. Blair and the Ladyjacks never lost an NCAA first-round game during his tenure.
In each of his last six seasons, Stephen F. Austin never finished with a national ranking worse than 14th. His 1989-90 team finished the season ranked sixth nationally, and his 1991-92 team was ranked fourth in the final polls.
"Stephen F. Austin was my very first head coaching job and I will always be grateful to Dr. Baker Pattillo for hiring me," Blair said of the current SFA president who was vice president at the time of his appointment. "SFA gave me the opportunity to turn around a program that had fallen on hard times and rejuvenate it into something that legendary head coach Sue Gunter had started. We had some great players come through our program and I was fortunate to coach teams to the Sweet 16 in four of my last five seasons. Some of my greatest games of all-time were in the Southland. I am honored to be inducted into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor."
As for individual awards, Blair's student-athletes were honored numerous times in his eight seasons. He placed at least two players on the All-Southland first-teams from 1988 to 1993, including a season-best five all-conference selections (two first team and three second team) in 1991-92. He coached five players to postseason accolades, including Porta Hill, who was an All-American in 1990.
Blair's teams set or tied six Southland records that still stand today, including most wins in a season (30, 1988-89; tied with Louisiana-Monroe, 1984-85). The Ladyjacks' unprecedented conference-best 86-game home winning streak also began under Blair's tutelage. Blair was honored with an induction into the SFA Ladyjack Hall of Fame on Dec. 2, 2008.
He accepted the head coaching position at the University of Arkansas following the 1992-93 season. During his tenure in Fayetteville, Blair led the Lady Razorbacks to a 198-120 record and an appearance in the 1998 NCAA Women's Final Four in 1998. He is Arkansas' all-time winningest women's coach, and was tabbed as National Coach of the Year in 1995 by Basketball Times and the Women's Basketball News Service, and has been named District Coach of the Year four times.
He also led the U.S. Women's National Team to the gold medal at the 1996 Jones Cup, a prestigious international competition, and four of that team's members starred for the gold medal winning U.S. team in the 2000 Olympics.
Blair departed Arkansas in 2003 to become the head coach at Texas A&M, and not surprisingly, has led the Aggies to unprecedented accomplishments. A two-time Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist, his A&M teams have reached the NCAA Sweet 16 twice and his 2008 squad advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
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 NCAA Division I coach to reach the milestone. Blair also holds the distinction of being one of only five coaches in NCAA history to take three schools to the NCAA Tournament.
The Southland Conference Hall of Honor, established to recognize individuals who have played an instrumental role in the history, growth and development of the conference, inducted its first members in 1999. For more information on the Hall of Honor and its past inductees, go to www.southland.org.