Award-winning Texas A&M women’s basketball head coach Gary Blair announced the 2021-2022 season campaign will be his last.
Blair is a member of seven halls of fame, highlighted by his inclusion in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. He currently holds 838 victories, the 12th-most in Division I history and fourth among active coaches. The Dallas native came to College Station in 2003 and has since led A&M to a 2011 NCAA Championship and an additional five conference titles, including the most recent 2021 SEC Regular Season Championship.
Blair said he evaluates himself on his ability to affect players.
“I always evaluate myself on, ‘Am I giving everything I have? Is my health good and am I still able to make an impact on young lives?’” Blair said. “I am fortunate that my health is still great, and I believe that I can still make an impact on our student athletes and that I can give all my effort every single day. However, I know that it is time for this to be my final season.”
Blair boasts a current program win record of 430 games and is only nine wins shy of becoming the winningest basketball coach in A&M history. He sits behind Shelby Metcalf, Ph.D., who won 438 men’s basketball games from 1963 to 1990. Additionally, Blair enters his final season with 16-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
A&M Director of Athletics Ross Bjork said Blair made his retirement decision on his own terms, a rarity in the world of collegiate sports today.
“Gary Blair is more than just a coach,” Bjork said. “Because of his good-natured personality, he is beloved in the Bryan-College Station community and beyond. Coach is amazingly kind and has never met a stranger. I know he will continue to be a presence around Aggieland for years to come. On behalf of Texas A&M Athletics, I want to congratulate coach Gary Blair on an amazing career, and we can’t wait to watch him and his team compete for one last season.”
Blair, in tears at the press conference following the announcement, said he has high expectations for his final season.
“I want to take this team — not last year’s team, not 2011 — as far as we can take it,” Blair said. “The brand of Texas A&M is at an all-time high. Sometimes it’s not all the W’s and L’s that are on the scoreboard. It’s all the relationships and preparations and everything that’s been done to make this place work.”