Kenneth Carlyle "Gerry" Gerard (July 14, 1903 – January 17, 1951) was an American

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 ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach. He served as the head basketball coach at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

from 1943 to 1950, compiling a record of 131–78. Gerard first arrived at Duke to serve as the director of intramural sports in 1931. He helped form the

Duke Blue Devils men's soccer The Duke Blue Devils men's soccer team is the men's soccer program that represents Duke University. The Blue Devils compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They won their first and only NCAA tournament in 19 ...

program in 1935, coaching the team for 11 seasons. A native of

Mishawaka, Indiana Mishawaka () is a city on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Misha ...

, Gerard attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, where played basketball and football as an

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

and

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He also threw the

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

on Illinois track team. He graduated from Illinois in June 1928 with a Bachelor of Science degree and began his career that fall as a teacher and head football coach at the high school in

Athens, Pennsylvania Athens is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located south of the New York state line on the Susquehanna and Chemung rivers. The population was 3,749 in 1900 and 3,796 ...

. Gerard joined the Duke basketball coaching staff in 1941, acting as an assistant coach under Eddie Cameron for two seasons, prior to being named head coach in 1943. He coached Duke for eight seasons (1943–1950), winning the Southern Conference tournament and Coach of the Year honors in 1944 and 1946. Gerard's health began to decline in 1949 and he took a leave of absence in November 1950. He died on January 17, 1951, at

Duke University Hospital Duke University Hospital is a 1062 -bed acute care facility and an academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health Sys ...

, in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

after a serious injury lasting several months.

Head coaching record

Basketball

References

External links

Gerry Gerard
at Sports-Reference.com
K.C. "Gerry" Gerard
at goduke.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Gerry 1903 births 1951 deaths American football ends American football quarterbacks American male javelin throwers Duke Blue Devils men's basketball coaches Duke Blue Devils men's soccer coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Illinois Fighting Illini men's track and field athletes High school football coaches in Pennsylvania Schoolteachers from Pennsylvania People from Mishawaka, Indiana Coaches of American football from Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Soccer in Indiana Sports coaches from Indiana Track and field athletes from Indiana