Hemmings put BU on basketball map
Former Brandon coach led program to four national titles
EDMONTON – In a coaching career at Brandon University that spanned across parts of four decades, Jerry Hemmings led the Bobcats men’s basketball program to unprecedented success and created a legacy of excellence.
The North Carolina native was inducted Friday into the Canada West Hall of Fame, thanks to his four national titles and 19 conference championships.
Hemmings is the second Bobcat inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame, as he joins former player John Carson.
Beginning at BU in 1974, Hemmings led the Bobcats to their first national championship appearance in 1979 before elevating Brandon to the nation’s best, winning three straight national championships from 1987 to 1989. The Bobcats won their fourth Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) title in 1996.
He had 734 career victories, while being named Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Coach of the Year eight times and winning the CIAU Coach of the Year award in 1980.
To read more about Hemmings run of excellence at Brandon, click here.
ABOUT THE CANADA WEST HALL OF FAME
For the last century, organized university sport has been a central part of the student experience at institutions across Western Canada. Beginning with the University of Manitoba capturing the first Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) men's hockey banner in 1919-20, student-athletes have been competing to reach their full potential in sport and the classroom, while enriching campus life.
To commemorate 100 years of university sport across Western Canada, the Canada West Hall of Fame was created in the spring of 2019, with the first induction class set to be unveiled throughout the 2019-20 season.
VISIT: CanadaWestHallofFame.org