Gary Garner

Gary Garner (born September 12, 1943) is an American former college basketball coach. He led several programs, including Drake and Southeast Missouri State at the NCAA Division I level. Garner also coached at Fort Hays State and Dakota State, winning a Division II national championship with Fort Hays in 1996.

Raised in West Plains, Missouri, Garner played college basketball for the Missouri Tigers from 1962 to 1965. Following his playing career, he turned to coaching, leading junior college programs at Kemper Military Academy, Trenton Junior College and Joplin Junior College (now Missouri Southern State University) before accepting an assistant coach role at his alma mater under coach Norm Stewart. He spent four seasons on the Tiger staff, helping to build some of the program's best teams, before landing the head coaching position at Drake.

Following his departure from SEMO, Garner spent two seasons as an assistant for Nick Nurse with the Iowa Energy of the NBA G League. Determining that he enjoyed coaching college players more than professionals, Garner accepted the head coaching role at Dakota State University of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), where he coached for 14 seasons less a short break to be treated for cancer. Taking over a relatively pedestrian program, he led the school to two regular season and two conference tournament titles in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA). He led the Trojans to four national tournament appearances in a five-year span. Garner retired following the 2022–23 season.