Southland Legends Dumars, Blair to Enter Conference Hall of Honor
FRISCO, Texas ? A pair of Southland Conference basketball legends, former McNeese State basketball student-athlete Joe Dumars and former Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball coach Gary Blair, have been selected as the newest inductees into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor, the league announced Thursday.
As the 32nd and 33rd inductees into the Hall of Honor, Dumars and Blair will be enshrined as the “Class of 2009” during the Southland Conference’s annual Honor’s Ceremony and Dinner on May 28 at the San Luis Resort in Galveston, Texas.
“The Southland Hall of Honor welcomes two legendary basketball icons, Joe Dumars and Gary Blair, with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and anticipation,” league commissioner Tom Burnett said. “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.”
Dumars’ talents on the basketball court were evident from the first time he put on a Cowboy jersey in 1981 until the day he left following his senior season in 1984-85. Recruited from Natchitoches, La., the Central High School product starred from the beginning at McNeese, earning the 1981-82 Southland Freshman of the Year honor.
He won the league scoring title in both his junior and senior seasons, and in his final campaign in 1984-85, led the Cowboys to a second-place finish in the Southland. His deeds did not go unnoticed that year as he was named an All-American The Sporting News, the Southland Conference Player of the Year and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Player of the Year.
Dumars accumulated six McNeese State records, including points scored (2,607), field goals made in a career (942), free throws made in a season (267 in 1984) and free throws made in a career (917). He averaged more than 22 points per game and is second on the league’s all-time scoring list. He remains the only men’s basketball player in Southland history to earn four first-team all-Southland honors and four all-tournament awards.
In 1994, Dumars was inducted into the McNeese State Hall of Fame.
“I’m very honored to be inducted into the Southland Conference Hall of Honor,” Dumars said. “I really enjoyed my four years at McNeese State and would not change a thing.”
Dumars’ performance as a collegian was honored as he was the 18th overall selection in the first round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. Dumars played for the Pistons during his entire NBA career from 1985 to 1999. He helped lead the team to a pair of NBA World Championships in 1989 and 1990, and was selected as the 1989 NBA Finals MVP as the Pistons swept the Los Angeles Lakers in four games. During his professional career, he was selected to the NBA All-Star team six times, and to the All-Defensive first team four times. In 14 seasons, Dumars scored 16,401 points, handed out 4,612 assists, grabbed 2,203 rebounds and recorded 902 steals.
Always a great sportsman and upstanding citizen, he was the first recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award, which has since been renamed the “Joe Dumars Trophy.” His No. 4 jersey was retired by the Pistons in 2000, and he has the distinction of being the only Pistons player to ever wear this number.
In 2006, Dumars received the ultimate honor in basketball, an induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Charles Barkley and Dominique Wilkins.
Transitioning from excellence on the court to the front office, Dumars became the Pistons’ President of Basketball Operations in 2001, and was voted the league’s Executive of the Year in 2002-03. He built the team that won the 2004 NBA World Championship and the 2005 Eastern Conference championship. The Pistons played in the Eastern Conference Finals every year between 2003-2008 under his direction.
Like his class of 2009 Hall of Honor counterpart, Blair has always been an instrumental figure in the women’s game and through his off-court philanthropic work.
Blair, who currently ranks 20th in victories among active NCAA Division I women’s basketball coaches, was the Stephen F. Austin head coach from 1985-93, and he 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 Baker Pattillo for hiring me,” Blair said of the current SFA president who was vice president at the time. “SFA gave me that opportunity after the program had fallen on hard times and I was able to rejuvenate something that Sue Gunter had started. We had some great players and I was fortunate to coach teams to the Sweet 16 in four of my last five seasons. Some of my greatest games were in the Southland. This is a good time for me and I’m honored to go 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, 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. His A&M teams have reached the “Sweet 16” on three occasions and his 2008 squad advanced to the NCAA “Elite Eight.” A Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist for the second time in 2007 (also at Arkansas in 2003).
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, and ranks 36th in career victories among active coaches in all divisions of the NCAA.
As 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. Known as a marketing and public relations guru, Blair has increased awareness about his program, and attendance at Reed Arena has increased 279 percent due to his one-on-one approach.
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.