The Class of 2011 would not be complete without Texas A&M women’s basketball Head Coach Gary Blair. In his 26 years as a collegiate head coach, Blair has only experienced one losing season. A two-time national finalist for the esteemed Naismith Coach of the Year Award, he continues to represent the Aggies as one of the most active Division 1 coaches in the women’s game today.
With 22 postseason appearances, 17 NCAA Tournament appearances and 2 Final Four appearances, Blair is far from a rookie. Highlighting his career is the fact that he is one of only three NCAA Division 1 coaches to lead two separate women’s basketball teams to the NCAA Final Four – – Arkansas in 1998 and Texas A&M in 2011.
In his 9 years at Texas A&M, Blair has guided the women’s basketball program to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The most historic moment he’s experienced took place last season when the Aggies won the National Championship. Leading the Aggies to their first national title and first-ever trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four, Blair closed out the 2010-11 season with an astounding 33-5 record, the most wins in Aggie history.
Born and raised in Dallas, Blair played center field on the baseball team at Bryan Adams High School, receiving all-city honors in 1963. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s in health and physical education and a master’s in education. After graduation, Blair thought he would end up coaching high school baseball somewhere in Lubbock, but plans changed when he was offered a position in Dallas at South Oak Cliff High School as the physical education coach.
Blair became coach of the girl’s basketball program, and the boys and girls golf teams at South Oak Cliff in 1973. Seven seasons and three state Class 4A championships later, Blair had made his mark in high school girl’s basketball and was inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame.
In October 1980, he accepted the assistant coaching position at Louisiana Tech University under then co-head coaches Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore. Blair spent 5 seasons at La.Tech, reaching the NCAA Final Four four times and winning two National Championships.
Blair’s took the head coaching job at Stephen F. Austin University in 1985. The team enjoyed success under Blair and increased home attendance to rank in the top 12 of NCAA Division 1 attendance leaders.
After eight years with SFA, Blair became head coach of the women’s team at the University of Arkansas, accumulating a 198-120 record.
Blair came to Texas A&M in 2003. He is a tireless recruiter and has brought quality players to the campus in College Station. He continues to amaze Aggie fans with impressive record-breaking statistics. He works hard to encourage fans to attend women’s basketball games and increased attendance his first season by 71% from the previous year.
The Aggies had their greatest year in 2011. They defeated Baylor 58-46 in front of 11,088 fans to advance to the Final Four. They then beat Stanford for a chance to play in the title game. The Aggies beat Notre Dame, 76-70, winning the National Championship for the first time in school history.
