Gary Joseph Winton is an American former basketball player best known for his collegiate career at the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 ("Army") between 1974 and 1978. A 6'5" forward from Somerville, Alabama

Somerville, Alabama

Somerville is a town in Morgan County, Alabama. It is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 347. Somerville was the county seat of Morgan County from 1818 to 1891, when the seat...

, Winton scored a then-school record 2,296 points (later surpassed by Kevin Houston

Kevin Houston

Kevin Houston was an American basketball player who is best known for leading NCAA Division I in scoring during his senior season at Army in 1986–87...

) and grabbed a still-standing school record 1,168 rebounds. On 14 occasions he scored 30 or more points and recorded 15+ rebounds 17 times. In his junior

Junior (education)

"Junior" is a term used in the United States to describe a student in their 3rd year of study . A Junior is considered an upperclassman...

 and senior

Senior (education)

Senior is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the 4th year of study .-High school:...

 seasons Winton was an Honorable Mention All-American while playing for Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

's Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...

 selected him in the 1978 NBA Draft

1978 NBA Draft

The 1978 NBA Draft was the 32nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 9, 1978, before the 1978–79 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...

, but due to a five-year commitment to serve in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 after graduation, he never played in the league. After graduation, he did play on the pre-Olympic traveling USA Basketball Team. In 1979, the men's basketball team participated in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

's Spartakiad

Spartakiad

Spartakiad initially was the name of an international sports event that the Soviet Union attempted to use to both oppose and supplement the Olympics...

, an international sports event that the Soviet Union attempted to use to both oppose and supplement the Olympics

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

. Winton ultimately never made the official Olympic roster, however.

In 1990 he served as Army's head softball coach for just that one season. Fifteen years later he was inducted in the Army Sports Hall of Fame as part of their 14-person induction class in 2005.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds