School: Neillsville - Gaier -
Basketball Coaches’ Hall of Fame (2020)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail:
dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Gaier
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co, WI) 3/03/2021
Gaier to be Enshrined in Basketball Coaches’ Hall of Fame
John Gaier
By Ryan Spoehr
A person with a Gregg Poppovich-like presence who has been firm and fair with
players and has accumulated two decades of success leading the bench for the
Neillsville varsity girls basketball program will be recognized statewide for
that tenure.
Neillsville girls basketball coach John Gaier, who is also the school district’s
superintendent, was announced last week as one of the inductees into the 2021
class of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Hall of Fame.
Gaier said he was contacted recently by the WBCA and that it was not something
he wasn’t expecting.
“It was a tremendous surprise,” Gaier said. “A few months ago, the association
reached out to me for my information. They must have a committee that does the
selection process, and I figured that I was in consideration at that point.
“At that point, I was humbled to even be considered.”
When he found out he was going to get the nod, Gaier only told his wife.
Gaier said that receiving a distinction like a hall-of-fame induction is not why
he coaches; he leads teams from the bench because he enjoys coaching.
Also, he stressed that his hall-of-fame induction should not be looked at as
solely an accomplishment by himself.
“In all honesty, I do not think of this as an individual award. I think of this
as a team and community award,” Gaier said. “There are a lot of community
members who put a lot of effort and time into making sure we have athletics
here. I hope the community sees this as a community award more than anything
else.”
According to records on the WBCA website, Gaier is 31st in the state for total
wins as a girls basketball coach, with 400. The Warriors went 18-2 overall this
season under his leadership.
This was Gaier’s 19th season at the helm for the girls basketball team. The
Warriors were conference and regional champions. They have been regional
champions every year since 2016. The Warriors have gone to the state tournament
five times and have won a state title under Gaier’s leadership.
Gaier also coached boys basketball for five years at Neillsville and accumulated
57 wins during that time.
Gaier will be inducted at a banquet Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Glacier Canyon
Lodge of Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. He will be inducted with 10 other
high school head coaches, some former players and two college coaches, among
others, including former Wauwatosa East Star, Wisconsin Badger and Dallas
Maverick Devin Harris.
Neillsville Varsity girls basket ball coach John Gaier, shown here talking with
players during a timeout of a game this past season, will be a 2021 entrant to
the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He recorded his 400th
girls basketball win last month. Ryan Spoehr/Clark County Press
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