Jimmy Gales (1941-2020)
6/5/2020 9:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON – North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Jimmy Gales, who led the Mean Green basketball team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1988, died Wednesday.
Gales was the head coach at North Texas from 1986 to 1993. In just his second season as the Mean Green head coach, Gales led UNT to the 1988 Southland Conference regular season and tournament title. It was the first time in program history since they joined the NCAA D-I ranks in 1957 that the Mean Green had won either a conference regular season or tournament championship. They earned an automatic berth into the 1988 NCAA Tournament where they faced North Carolina in the first round.
The following year, Gales led North Texas to a second-straight Southland Conference regular season championship with a 10-4 league record.
In his seven seasons at the helm of the Mean Green, they won 56 percent of all Southland Conference games and reached the finals of the conference tournament four times. Gales coached seven first team all-conference players, including Tony Worrell and Deon Hunter who each were named Southland Conference Players of the Year in 1988 and 1989, respectively.
Gales' time in Denton began in 1975 when he served as an assistant coach under fellow Mean Green Hall of Fame head coach Bill Blakeley. In eight seasons as an assistant at UNT, they posted three 20-win seasons and beat opponents such as Baylor, Kansas State and in 1977 they beat SMU, 103-99, at the Super Pit in front of 10,600 fans.
In his 15 combined years at UNT, Gales coached seven Mean Green basketball players who have been inducted into the North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame.
He received a master's degree from North Texas in Public School Administration, and after coaching at UNT, Gales was an assistant principal at James Madison High School in Dallas for 11 years. He also coached at Dallas South Oak Cliff High School before the Mean Green.
Support North Texas student-athletes by visiting MeanGreenScholarshipFund.com.
Gales was the head coach at North Texas from 1986 to 1993. In just his second season as the Mean Green head coach, Gales led UNT to the 1988 Southland Conference regular season and tournament title. It was the first time in program history since they joined the NCAA D-I ranks in 1957 that the Mean Green had won either a conference regular season or tournament championship. They earned an automatic berth into the 1988 NCAA Tournament where they faced North Carolina in the first round.
The following year, Gales led North Texas to a second-straight Southland Conference regular season championship with a 10-4 league record.
In his seven seasons at the helm of the Mean Green, they won 56 percent of all Southland Conference games and reached the finals of the conference tournament four times. Gales coached seven first team all-conference players, including Tony Worrell and Deon Hunter who each were named Southland Conference Players of the Year in 1988 and 1989, respectively.
Gales' time in Denton began in 1975 when he served as an assistant coach under fellow Mean Green Hall of Fame head coach Bill Blakeley. In eight seasons as an assistant at UNT, they posted three 20-win seasons and beat opponents such as Baylor, Kansas State and in 1977 they beat SMU, 103-99, at the Super Pit in front of 10,600 fans.
In his 15 combined years at UNT, Gales coached seven Mean Green basketball players who have been inducted into the North Texas Athletics Hall of Fame.
He received a master's degree from North Texas in Public School Administration, and after coaching at UNT, Gales was an assistant principal at James Madison High School in Dallas for 11 years. He also coached at Dallas South Oak Cliff High School before the Mean Green.
Support North Texas student-athletes by visiting MeanGreenScholarshipFund.com.
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