Texas A&M women’s basketball coach Gary Blair announced Thursday he will retire after the upcoming season.
Blair, 76, has been with the Aggies since 2003, leading them to a national championship in 2011 and a school-record 430 wins.
“Coach Blair is a legend in women’s basketball and college sports,” Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said. “He has made a transformational impact on Texas A&M University, our athletics program and all of college basketball. His decades long championship-caliber coaching acumen and recruiting ability has transcended many generations of women’s basketball players and his impact will be felt long after he hangs up the whistle.”
No. 23 Texas A&M opens the season on Nov. 9 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“Although I am excited to begin a new chapter in my life, I am even more excited to compete this year,” Blair said in a statement posted on Twitter. “We are the defending SEC Champions and have the toughest conference schedule in the league this year.
“I don’t want the fans to come out and send me off. I want the 12th Man to come out and support our players and this program. They have worked extremely hard this offseason and they deserve all the love we can give them.”
— Gary Blair (@CoachGaryBlair) October 28, 2021
A 2013 inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Blair coached at Stephen F. Austin (1985-93) and Arkansas (1993-2003) before taking over in College Station.
The numbers speak for themselves.
GB is the ?? #GigEm pic.twitter.com/fBuFXHSGRG
— Texas A&M Women's Basketball (@AggieWBB) October 28, 2021
According to Texas A&M, Blair ranks fourth among active coaches and 12th in Division I history with 838 wins. He has posted a winning record in 35 of his 36 seasons, and 16 of his Texas A&M players have been selected in the WNBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
