Gary is truly a local sporting hero as his formative years were spent in Bankstown from 1953 until 1978 when he then moved to America to play for the Baton Rouge Raiders. On his return to Australia he retired from the national team and continued to play in the league regionally.
- Status: Pending1973Toured USA with NSW Team.
- Status: Pending1975Represented Australian Tours of USA & Communist China.
- Status: Pending1976Olympic Squad (Oceania pre Olympic Tournament)
Beginnings
Gary was educated in Bankstown and was a member of the Bankstown Basketball Association. In 1970, at the age of 17 years Gary had been selected to play for Sydney and would achieve NSW Under 18s representation at the National Titles in Perth in the same year.
Achievements
During his playing career Gary was noted for his a laser-like jumper which has been inherited by his daughter Basketball Olympian Lauren Jackson. Gary achieved basketball success by creating a team from scratch. Firstly, with the Telstars, a team that was renamed the Nunawading Spectres. This was followed up with the Melbourne Tigers, where he was the WNBL coach of the year in 1994.
Post Representation
In 2006, Gary created the Lady Bandits of Albury-Wodonga to play in the South East Australian Basketball League. In less than six months as president Gary managed to secure a clearance from Basketball Australia to let his daughter Lauren play in the opening game, signed a substantial deal with naming rights sponsor and gained the services of a WNBL Honour Roll life member as coach.