NAME: Jerry Hemmings
UNIVERSITY: Brandon
CATEGORY: Coach
SPORT: Men’s Basketball
YEARS ACTIVE: 1974-2003
HIGHLIGHTS:
Four-time CIAU champion (1987, 1988, 1989, 1996)
1980 CIAU Coach of the Year
Coached Canada to silver in men’s basketball at 1991 FISU Games
Eight-time GPAC Coach of the Year
BIOGRAPHY:
In a coaching career at Brandon University that spanned parts of four decades, Jerry Hemmings led the Bobcats men’s basketball program to unprecedented success and created a legacy of excellence.
The native of Mount Airy, North Carolina served nearly three decades at the helm of the Bobcats, winning four national titles to go along with 19 conference championships, while amassing 13 final four appearances. He had 734 career victories, while being named Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Coach of the Year eight times (1980, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, and 2001) and winning the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union's (CIAU) Coach of the Year award in 1980.
Hemmings began coaching the Bobcats in 1974, following a stint as an assistant coach of Lakehead’s men’s basketball squad. Hemmings led the Bobcats to their first national championship appearance in 1979 before elevating BU to the nation’s best, winning three straight national championships from 1987 to 1989. The Bobcats won their fourth CIAU title in 1996.
Internationally, Hemmings coached with the Canadian National Men’s team from 1989 until 1994. He assisted Ken Shields in two world championships, Argentina in 1990 and Toronto in 1994. He also led Canada to a silver medal at the 1991 FISU Games in Sheffield, England.
As a student-athlete, Hemmings played centre at Lakehead University, then came to Brandon, where he was named an honourable mention All-Canadian, WCIAA all-star and Brandon University’s male athlete of the year for the 1971-72 basketball season.
Hemmings has been inducted in the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and the Brandon University Sports Wall of Fame, as well as the Lakehead Athletics Wall of Fame.