Completed Event: General versus Arizona on January 18, 2002
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Fern Gardner Selected To NACDA Hall Of Fame
4/30/2010 12:00 AM | General
April 30, 2010
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Fern Gardner, former women's basketball coach and senor associate athletics director at the University of Utah, has been selected for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame. Gardner and 11 other inductees will be recognized during NACDA's 45th-annual convention on June 23, in Anaheim, Calif.
One of the most prominent female athletics administrators in the history of collegiate athletics, Gardner was No. 36 on Sports Illustrated's list of Utah's 50 greatest sports figures.
She was hired by the U. in 1975 in the dual role of women's basketball coach and women's athletic director. In 1983, Gardner left coaching to become a full-time assistant athletics director.
In 1993, Gardner became the first senior associate athletics director at Utah, a position she held until her retirement in 1996. In her capacity as athletics director Dr. Chris Hill's top assistant, Gardner served as the U's senior woman administrator and oversaw NCAA compliance, eligibility, academic advising and several men's and women's sports. She was instrumental in the advancement of women's athletics at the collegiate and amateur levels and championed men's athletics as well.
Gardner served on several committees including the NCAA Women's Basketball and Women's Volleyball Committee and the Regional Softball Committee. In 1996, she was named District IV Administrator of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA).
In her eight years as Utah's head women's basketball coach from 1975-83, Gardner amassed 319 wins and averaged 22 victories a year. She never had a losing season, while leading Utah to four conference titles, three AIAW national appearances and the 1983 NCAA Tournament. The three-time Region 7 Coach of the Year was selected to coach the West basketball team in the 1978 National Sports Festival.
Gardner came to Utah from her alma mater Utah State, where she coached the women's basketball team from 1970-75 and led the Aggies to four Region 7 championships and four AIAW National Tournament appearances. During that time, she also coached the Aggie field hockey (one year), volleyball, softball and track and field teams, while serving as the director of women's intramurals and teaching in the physical education department.
Gardner was also an exceptional athlete in her own right. She competed in basketball, volleyball, softball, and track and field while a student at Utah State. Gardner was also a star pitcher for the Utah Shamrocks, one of the top amateur fast pitch softball teams in the nation. She played 21 years with the Shamrocks (1951-71), pitching in 13 national tournaments and earning ASA All-America honors in 1970. Gardner also played six years (1959-65) on Utah Lakers' AAU basketball team, participating in six AAU national tournaments.
Gardner is a member of both the University of Utah Crimson Club Hall of Fame and the Utah State Big Blue Club Hall of Fame, as well as the Utah Softball Hall of Fame, Utah Sports Hall of Fame, Utah Summer Games Hall of Fame, the Utah State University College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation Hall of Fame, and now the NACDA Hall of Fame. Gardner has also received Distinguished Alumni Awards from Bear River High School and USU.
Gardner is a native of Deweyville, Utah and received bachelor's and master's degrees from Utah State. She now makes her home in St. George, Utah.
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