Clayton State University Athletics

The man orchestrating Clayton State men's basketball's renaissance at the NCAA Division II level was coaching legend Gordon Gibbons as he guided the Lakers from 2001-13.
 
In addition to spearheading the program's first two appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, Gibbons compiled an immaculate 219-134 (.620) overall record while notching 11 straight winning seasons from 2001-02 through 2011-12. To put that in perspective, in the first 11 seasons of Clayton State basketball there had only been four winning seasons. Additionally, during that 11 season stretch his teams produced the second most wins in the Peach Belt Conference.
 
During his 12 years at the helm of the Lakers he took the team to the PBC Tournament every single year and reached the semifinals half of that time, including two berths in the title game. The 2007-08 season would see the first tournament title in the program's history and 2001-02 would be the first PBC Regular Season Championship behind a 19-9 overall record in his first season.
 
Among the highlights during his tenure in Morrow was a 2006-07 campaign that saw them win what is still a program record 17 straight to open the season and be ranked the entire season. That would include eight straight weeks as the No. 2 team in the country and a berth in the PBC Tournament Championship Game. Following the season he would be named the John "Whack" Hyder State of Georgia Men's Basketball Coach of the Year.
 
Gibbons would also win his 400^th career game in February of 2009 as he added to a total that included 246 during an extremely successful tenure at Florida Southern. But any good coach knows that you can't do it without players and he was no exception.
 
Over the course of his 12 seasons, Gibbons had 11 consecutive seasons with at least one player named to the All-PBC Team, including six First-Team honorees. Those included a pair of First-Team selections in Timmy Downs and Brandon Robinson in 2010-11. He would also recruit the program's first PBC Defensive Player of the Year in Juron Dobbs, who would win that award in Gibbons final season of 2012-13.
 
Those career totals would also include five PBC All-Tournament selections, five Daktronics All-Region and five NABC All-Region honorees. Additionally, he would recruit individuals that would produce two Preseason All-American selections and a Division II Bulletin All-American Honorable Mention honoree in Brandon Robinson (2010-11).
 
In his 12 years in Morrow, Gibbons took a fledgling Division II program and not only legitimized it but turned it into a regional and national power.


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