Gardner, "Jack" (James H.)
Basketball
b. March 29, 1910, Texico, NM
d. April 9, 2000
Gardner captained the University of Southern California team as a senior in 1931-32. While going to graduate school, he coached an AAU team for a season and then coached high school and junior college basketball for six years.
In 1940, Gardner became head basketball coach at Kansas State. He was in the armed services from 1943 to 1946, then returned to Kansas State. During his ten seasons there, his teams won three Big Seven championships and went to the final four of the NCAA tournament twice, in 1948 and 1951.
Gardner moved to the University of Utah in 1953. His emphasis on offense and the fast break won his Utah team the nickname "Runnin' Redskins." They won or shared six Skyline Conference championships and went to the final four in 1961 and 1966. He's the only coach to take two different teams to the final four twice.
Gardner retired from coaching basketball after the 1970-71 season. His Kansas State teams won 147 games while losing 81 and his Utah teams were 339-154, for an overall record of 486 victories and 235 defeats, a .674 percentage.
When the NBA Jazz moved from New Orleans to Utah in 1979, Gardner became a part-time consultant to the team. He's credited with persuading the Jazz to draft John Stockton, a little-known guard from Gonzaga University.