| 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.
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]
Pinholster most notably coached at Oglethorpe University from 1956 to 1966.
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 .
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]
After his days at Oglethorpe, he became one of Atlanta's most successful business men.[8]
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]
He died on September 20, 2020, in Ball Ground, Georgia at age 92.[11]