Former Lyon College Head Basketball Coach and Athletic Director Terry Garner has passed away, according to a post shared on the Lyon College Athletics Facebook page.
“Today we lost a great man, father, husband, coach, and friend. I had the honor of calling him coach and working alongside him for several years,” said Lyon College Athletics Director Kevin Jenkins.
From 1980-1995 Coach Garner served as head men’s basketball coach at Arkansas College/Lyon College, and from 1986-2007, he was director of athletics. He stepped down as director of athletics in 2007 to be closer to his family in Little Rock and to pursue other professional opportunities.
Jenkins said:
“Coach Garner left a tremendous legacy on the courts and on our campus. For more than a quarter of a century, he served as a mentor, teacher, and friend to those of us who were fortunate to play and work for him. He was widely respected by our campus and community, as well as by his peers in the athletic world.”
At Lyon College, Coach Garner took a leadership role in the construction of Scots Baseball Field, the Kelley Complex, and Huser Soccer Field, and the school saw its student-athlete population grow from just 35 student-athletes to more than 170. He also oversaw the addition of men’s and women’s soccer, women’s golf, and women’s fast-pitch softball programs, as well as the restart of baseball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball, the post read.
Garner earned numerous honors and recognitions for his work at Lyon College, including TranSouth Athletic Director of the Year, NAIA District 17 Coach of the Year, NAIA Area V National Coach of the Year, and AIC Coach of the Year. He was a recipient of the Lyon College Champion Award and was named to the athletic halls of fame at both the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Lyon College. In 2008, he was named to the NAIA Hall of Fame.
For the past few years, he also served as a member of the Lyon College Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
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