Gordon "Shorty" Carpenter (September 24, 1919 – March 8, 1988) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player, and part of gold medal winning American basketball team at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Born in

Ash Flat, Arkansas Ash Flat is a city in Fulton and Sharp counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 1,137 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Sharp County. History Ash Flat was established in 1856. The community was so named for a ...

and nicknamed ''Shorty'' despite his 6-foot, 6 inch frame, Carpenter played his college basketball at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, where he was an All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

performer in 1943. He later played AAU basketball for both the Phillips 66ers and Denver Chevrolets, making AAU All-American teams each year from 1943 to 1947. He coached the

United States men's national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

at the

1950 FIBA World Championship The 1950 FIBA World Championship, also called the 1st World Basketball Championship – 1950, was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 22 October to 3 November ...

, winning the silver medal. Carpenter was named to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame. Following his playing career, he became a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

with the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associat ...

.Gordon Carpenter , Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame
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References

External links

profile as player basketpedya.comprofile as coach basketpedya.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Gordon 1919 births 1988 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes Basketball coaches from Arkansas Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Arkansas Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Sharp County, Arkansas Phillips 66ers players United States men's national basketball team coaches United States men's national basketball team players Forwards (basketball)