Gary Yoder (born July 4, 1955) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He is best known for his collegiate career at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, although he played for three different colleges during his career.

High school career

A standout four-year player at Westview High School in

LaGrange County, Indiana LaGrange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 40,446. The county seat is LaGrange, Indiana. The county is located in the Northern Indiana region known as Michiana and is about east of South ...

, Yoder led the Warriors to the 1973 sectional championship and regional final against

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

Northrop High School Northrop High School is a Fort Wayne Community Schools high school located in the northern suburbs of Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, United States. Northrop is classified as 5A by the IHSAA. Northrop High School has had a sister school, the ...

. He scored school records of 683 points on the season and 51 points in a single game. He also broke the LaGrange County scoring record by accumulating 1,711 points in his career.

College career

Yoder moved on to play at

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

, where in his freshman season he averaged 4.7 points per game. Deciding to transfer, Yoder spent his sophomore season playing at Southern Idaho Community College in 1974–75, where he led the Golden Eagles to the national junior college championship against

Western Texas College Western Texas College (WTC) is a Public college, public community college in Snyder, Texas. It was established in 1969 and has two downtown Snyder locations in addition to the main campus. With an enrollment around 2,300, Western Texas College ...

. Yoder then transferred to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

where he played his final two seasons of college basketball. In two seasons as the Bearcats point guard, he led them to a combined 50–11 record, two conference titles and two NCAA tournament berths. As a junior, he averaged 7.3 points per game and led the team in assists. During his senior season in 1976–77, Yoder was the Bearcats' second-leading scorer and again their assists leader. He also had a free throw percentage of .881, the second-highest in UC history. He was named the Metro Seven Conference Player of the Year, which was the award's inaugural year. He also earned honorable mention All-American honors in 1977. He was inducted into the University of Cincinnati Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. He was selected in the third round (47th overall) of the

1977 NBA draft The 1977 NBA draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1977, before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, but he did not play in the NBA.

Personal life

In 1981, Yoder became assistant coach for the

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

men's basketball team at the same time that his wife, Carol, coached the women's team. Yoder went on to earn Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) certification from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. Since 1981 he has worked for

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is an American Multinational corporation, multinational financial services corporation specializing in Broker, retail brokerage. It is the wealth & asset management division of Morgan Stanley. On January 13, 2009, ...

, where he is currently Senior Vice President. He is also active in

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, for which he has earned the designation of Paul Harris Fellow, named for Rotary International's founder. In 2005, Gary and Carol Yoder earned recognition in the Fresno State Honor Roll of Donors Centennial Society for contributions to the university.

References

# # # # # # {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoder, Gary 1955 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball players People from LaGrange County, Indiana Shooting guards Southern Idaho Golden Eagles men's basketball players Wharton School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen