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Gordon C. Stauffer College coach

Gordon C. Stauffer (born May 21, 1930) is a retired American basketball coach. He was the head men's basketball coach at Indiana State University; leading their transition from NCAA College Division (now Division II) to Division I and membership in the Midwestern Conference and ultimately the Missouri Valley Conference. He also coached at Washburn University, Indiana University_Purdue University - Fort Wayne (IPFW), at Geneva College; his last college position was at Nicholls State (Louisiana) where he coached the Colonels from 1981–1990, again leading the school through a transition period from Div II to Div I.A Fort Wayne, Indiana South High star, led the Archers to Sectional and Regional titles in his Junior season (1947); he was tabbed 'Honorable Mention All-State' and attended Michigan State on a basketball scholarship; while at Michigan State, he was a member of their first Big Ten conference team; the second-leading scorer in 1952 and lettered three seasons for the Spartans.He was coached by two coaches, most notably Hall-of-Famer Pete Newell.Stauffer was drafted in the 1952 NBA Draft by the Indianapolis Olympians.While he was the first of Michigan State's 55 NBA draft picks, he never played for the Olympians and moved into the high coaching ranks in his home state of Indiana where he coached the Royerton Redbirds from 1955-1959. He left Royerton to move into the college coaching ranks at the Univ. of South Carolina where he assisted Walt Hambrick and Bob Stevens; he then moved to the Univ. of Oklahoma with Bob Stevens as the top assistant.He got his first head coaching job with Washburn University 4 seasons later; after winning a conference championship, he moved up the ranks to Indiana State. After 8 seasons in Terre Haute, he took the job in Ft Wayne. He spent two seasons at Geneva College, leading them to the NCCAA playoffs in each season. He spent 9 seasons at Nicholls State before retiring to Florida.