Garland F. Pinholster Explained

Garland F. Pinholster
Birth Date:19 February 1928
Birth Place:Clyattville, Georgia
Death Place:Ball Ground, Georgia
Player Sport1:Basketball
Player Years2:1948–1950
Player Team2:North Georgia
Coach Sport1:Basketball
Coach Years2:1956–1966
Coach Team2:Oglethorpe
Awards:Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Garland Folsom Pinholster (February 19, 1928 – September 20, 2020) was an athletic director as well as college basketball, baseball, and tennis coach, elected to the Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1962.[1] He is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

Early years

Pinholster was born in Clyattville, Georgia. He served in the United States Army and was commissioned a lieutenant. He was a basketball player for North Georgia College, a member of a team that won a state title in 1950.[2]

Oglethorpe University

Pinholster most notably coached at Oglethorpe University from 1956 to 1966.

Basketball

He compiled a 181 - 67 record as a basketball coach. Pinholster developed the wheel offense, an offensive strategy developed in the late 1950s.[3] It is a kind of continuity offense in which players move around in a circular pattern to create good scoring opportunities. The wheel offense is a popular offensive play, frequently used by teams from middle school to college levels because it can effectively work against any defense, including zone defense and man-to-man defense.[4] He is one proposed inventor for the foul-line huddle.[5] His teams were notable for their defense.[6]

He wrote several books on the sport, including Coach's Guide to Modern Basketball Defense .

United States national basketball

He coached the United States men's national basketball team including a gold medal finish at the 1963 Pan American Games and fourth-place finish in the 1963 FIBA World Championship. The 1963 team included Willis Reed. Former coach Gary Colson once said "Garland Pinholster, for a period of time, was the best coach in the United States."[7]

Business

After his days at Oglethorpe, he became one of Atlanta's most successful business men.[8]

Politics

Pinholster served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1990 to 2002 and was a Republican.[9] [10] Pinholster became chairman of the minority caucus of the Georgia House of Representatives and was elected to the Georgia State Board of Transportation.[8]

Death

He died on September 20, 2020, in Ball Ground, Georgia at age 92.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame. February 24, 2015. March 30, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190330200814/https://www.gopetrels.com/information/Athletic_Hall_of_Fame. dead.
  2. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-basketball-legend-former-state-legislator-dies-at-92 Georgia Basketball legend, former state legislator, dies at 92
  3. Web site: Georgia Trend . 2015-02-25 . 2011-09-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927214053/http://www.georgiatrend.com/features-sports-leisure/garland-pinholster.shtml . dead .
  4. Web site: Coach a Winning Team: Wheel Offense . 2015-02-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150102043023/http://www.coachawinningteam.com/basketball_play_wheel/ . 2015-01-02 . dead .
  5. Web site: Garland Pinholster. February 24, 2015. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000255/http://gshf.org/pdf_files/inductees/coach/garland_pinholster.pdf. dead.
  6. Book: Legends: Georgians who Lived Impossible Dreams. Gene Asher. 2005. 340. 9780865549777.
  7. Web site: The coach. Doug Monroe.
  8. Web site: A Little Old-Fashioned "Gumption". February 24, 2015.
  9. https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/7946/grland-pinholster Votesmart.org.-Garland Pinhoster
  10. http://www.house.ga.gov/representatives/en-US/Member.aspx?Member=387&Session=7 Georgia House of Representatives-Garland F. Pinholster
  11. Web site: Price . Kelly . Georgia basketball legend, former state legislator dies at 92 . Fox5atlanta.com . 2020-09-20 . 2020-09-21.