Gordon C. Stauffer

Gordon C. Stauffer (born May 21, 1930) is a retired American basketball coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at Indiana State University; leading their transition from NCAA College Division (now Division II) to Division I and membership in the Midwestern Conference and ultimately the Missouri Valley Conference. He also coached at Washburn University, Indiana University_Purdue University - Fort Wayne (IPFW), at Geneva College; his last college position was at Nicholls State (Louisiana) where he coached the Colonels from 1981–1990, again leading the school through a transition period from Div II to Div I.

A Fort Wayne, Indiana South High star, led the Archers to Sectional and Regional titles in his Junior season (1947); he was tabbed 'Honorable Mention All-State' and attended Michigan State on a basketball scholarship; while at Michigan State, he was a member of their first Big Ten conference team; the second-leading scorer in 1952 and lettered three seasons for the Spartans.^[1] He was coached by two coaches, most notably Hall-of-Famer Pete Newell.

Stauffer was drafted in the 1952 NBA Draft by the Indianapolis Olympians.^[2] While he was the first of Michigan State's 55 NBA draft picks,^[3] he never played for the Olympians and moved into the high coaching ranks in his home state of Indiana where he coached the Royerton Redbirds from 1955-1959. He left Royerton to move into the college coaching ranks at the Univ. of South Carolina where he assisted Walt Hambrick and Bob Stevens; he then moved to the Univ. of Oklahoma with Bob Stevens as the top assistant.

He got his first head coaching job with Washburn University 4 seasons later; after winning a conference championship, he moved up the ranks to Indiana State. After 8 seasons in Terre Haute, he took the job in Ft Wayne. He spent two seasons at Geneva College, leading them to the NCCAA playoffs in each season. He spent 9 seasons at Nicholls State before retiring to Florida.^[4]

Head coaching record

References