Colorado University Athletics
Chuck Gardner averaged 20.2 points in 1965-66 which at the time was the second-best single-season mark in team history.
CU Athletic Hall of Fame Profile: Chuck Gardner
November 05, 2018 | General, Men's Basketball
Editor's Note: It's Hall of Fame Week for Colorado Athletics! The 11-member Class of 2018 will be inducted on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Boedecker Gym in the CU Events Center, and will be recognized at Saturday's football game against Washington State at 1:30 p.m. Our first CU Athletic Hall of Fame Profile is Charles "Chuck" Gardner, an All-Big Eight performer in the 1960s for the men's basketball team.
Charles Gardner always loved playing sports as a kid. He was always competitive, athletic, and was fortunate to have great genes, especially his height at 6-foot, 8-inches.
"I'm so tall basketball just seemed natural," said Gardner whose height allowed him to have an excellent touch around the basket and a dangerous hook shot that made him an exceptional scorer.
When it came to him choosing a college with hopes to further his basketball career, instead of taking the easy option and staying on the East Coast near his Yardley, Pa., home where he was offered numerous scholarships, he wanted to come back to the Midwest where he spent his early years in Nebraska and Iowa.
In order to get his name out there, he wrote letters to basketball coaches at the University of Nebraska and the University of Iowa, but all any school could offer him was the opportunity to be a walk-on.
Unknown to Gardner, at the same time his father was talking to his friends, who were talking to their friends, until one day he received a phone call from Sox Walseth the University of Colorado's basketball coach. Walseth proceeded to offer Gardner a spot on the team and the rest is history.
Gardner credits a lot of his success in life to Walseth, who was his mentor, coach, teacher and still to this day the most influential person in his life. Under the leadership of Walseth, Gardner was a three-time letterman and a two-time first-team All-Big Eight Conference performer as a center.
Gardner's senior season, in 1965-66, is where he really shined as a player, as he led the Big Eight in scoring at 20.2 points per game, as well as finishing second in both rebounding (9.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.524) and fourth in free throw percentage (.650). Those four rankings combined were the best-all round effort at the time in Big Eight history. His 20.2 per game average in 1965-66 was the second-best in school history at the time and still ranks 10th today.
Not only was he a phenomenal athlete Gardner was also a superb scholar. He was a math major with economics and education minors, a two-time Academic All-Big Eight team member and an honorable mention Scholastic All-American.
Gardner was set to graduate in 1966, however, he had an opportunity to represent the United States at the World Basketball Championship held in Chile. The following year, he returned to CU and worked part-time for the Buff Club and part-time as the freshman basketball coach while he finished his undergraduate degree.
When the ABA formed, he jumped at the opportunity to play for the Denver Rockets and appeared in 42 games during the 1967-68 season.
Following his time playing for the Rockets, Walseth reached out to Gardner once again and asked, "are you going to run around in short pants for the rest of your life?" Walseth proceeded to offer him a job as the assistant coach to the varsity team where he spent four seasons under Walseth (1968-72) and was instrumental in recruiting Cliff Meely to Boulder.
In 1971, Walseth decided to start a basketball camp and split the profits with Gardner 60/40 as long as he "did all the paperwork, supervise the kids and keep the books." Gardner said that in that one summer "I made more money off of the camp then I did in my salary as a coach for the whole year. And I thought, 'I ought to be thinking about business instead of coaching.'"
Then and there, he decided to attend graduate school and received an MBA with an emphasis in accounting in 1973 and began working for the Arthur Anderson accounting firm.
Gardner is still a member of CU's National Buff Club Cabinet as well as an annual contributor to the Sox Walseth Basketball Endowment.
Gardner shared that one of Walseth major talents was developing teamwork. "He had the ability to take mediocre talents and put it together with a disciplined offense that was indifferent about who made the basket or who scored, all that mattered was everybody was involved and equally disciplined," he said.
The lessons that Walseth taught Gardner are things that have helped shaped his whole life and career. "Opportunities present themselves and you've got to take advantage of them when they do, as you never know where they will take you."
Charles Gardner always loved playing sports as a kid. He was always competitive, athletic, and was fortunate to have great genes, especially his height at 6-foot, 8-inches.
"I'm so tall basketball just seemed natural," said Gardner whose height allowed him to have an excellent touch around the basket and a dangerous hook shot that made him an exceptional scorer.
When it came to him choosing a college with hopes to further his basketball career, instead of taking the easy option and staying on the East Coast near his Yardley, Pa., home where he was offered numerous scholarships, he wanted to come back to the Midwest where he spent his early years in Nebraska and Iowa.
In order to get his name out there, he wrote letters to basketball coaches at the University of Nebraska and the University of Iowa, but all any school could offer him was the opportunity to be a walk-on.
Unknown to Gardner, at the same time his father was talking to his friends, who were talking to their friends, until one day he received a phone call from Sox Walseth the University of Colorado's basketball coach. Walseth proceeded to offer Gardner a spot on the team and the rest is history.
Gardner credits a lot of his success in life to Walseth, who was his mentor, coach, teacher and still to this day the most influential person in his life. Under the leadership of Walseth, Gardner was a three-time letterman and a two-time first-team All-Big Eight Conference performer as a center.
Gardner's senior season, in 1965-66, is where he really shined as a player, as he led the Big Eight in scoring at 20.2 points per game, as well as finishing second in both rebounding (9.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.524) and fourth in free throw percentage (.650). Those four rankings combined were the best-all round effort at the time in Big Eight history. His 20.2 per game average in 1965-66 was the second-best in school history at the time and still ranks 10th today.
Not only was he a phenomenal athlete Gardner was also a superb scholar. He was a math major with economics and education minors, a two-time Academic All-Big Eight team member and an honorable mention Scholastic All-American.
Gardner was set to graduate in 1966, however, he had an opportunity to represent the United States at the World Basketball Championship held in Chile. The following year, he returned to CU and worked part-time for the Buff Club and part-time as the freshman basketball coach while he finished his undergraduate degree.
When the ABA formed, he jumped at the opportunity to play for the Denver Rockets and appeared in 42 games during the 1967-68 season.
Following his time playing for the Rockets, Walseth reached out to Gardner once again and asked, "are you going to run around in short pants for the rest of your life?" Walseth proceeded to offer him a job as the assistant coach to the varsity team where he spent four seasons under Walseth (1968-72) and was instrumental in recruiting Cliff Meely to Boulder.
In 1971, Walseth decided to start a basketball camp and split the profits with Gardner 60/40 as long as he "did all the paperwork, supervise the kids and keep the books." Gardner said that in that one summer "I made more money off of the camp then I did in my salary as a coach for the whole year. And I thought, 'I ought to be thinking about business instead of coaching.'"
Then and there, he decided to attend graduate school and received an MBA with an emphasis in accounting in 1973 and began working for the Arthur Anderson accounting firm.
Gardner is still a member of CU's National Buff Club Cabinet as well as an annual contributor to the Sox Walseth Basketball Endowment.
Gardner shared that one of Walseth major talents was developing teamwork. "He had the ability to take mediocre talents and put it together with a disciplined offense that was indifferent about who made the basket or who scored, all that mattered was everybody was involved and equally disciplined," he said.
The lessons that Walseth taught Gardner are things that have helped shaped his whole life and career. "Opportunities present themselves and you've got to take advantage of them when they do, as you never know where they will take you."
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