Brandon University Athletics

Jerry Hemmings is undeniably one of the most successful coaches in Canadian basketball history. The stats speak for themselves – four national championships, 19 conference titles, 21 national tournament appearances, and 734 career wins over a spectacular 28 years leading the Bobcats men’s basketball team.
 
A product of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, Hemmings played his final year of eligibility at BU where he led the men’s basketball team in scoring, earning team MVP honours and the male athlete of the year award. Two years later he took over the reigns as head coach of the team, and quickly shaped it into the powerhouse it would remain under his leadership.
 
The team advanced to its first national tournament at the end of the 1979-80 season before capturing the school’s first national title in 1988. Hemmings and the Bobcats would add three more national title banners (1988, 1989, 1996).
 
For his efforts, Hemmings has been inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame, the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, and has been nominated for the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
Hemmings recently announced his retirement as a Physical Education Professor, but his connection to BU will continue. He and wife Marnie have established the Jerry and Marnie Hemmings Scholarship – a financial aid program for student-athletes in the Department of Physical Education and the Faculty of Education that are deemed academically deserving.