Dave Gunther        

HIGH SCHOOL: Dave Gunther attended Le Mars High School and lived in or near Le Mars, Iowa. He was selected as the first-team center on the 1955 All-Iowa basketball team

COLLEGE: He scored 1,188 career points and grabbing 690 career rebounds from 1957-59. He is one of 28 members of the 1,000-point and 500-rebound club in program history. When he finished his college career, he was the all-time leading scorer at Iowa. In 1958-59 season, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors after averaging 21.9 points and 12.2 rebounds, and ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring. In 1957-58, he was a second-team All-Big Ten selection after averaging 19.8 points and 10.2 rebounds.

He was a three-time team Most Valuable Player, led the team in scoring and free throw percentage all three years and in rebounding and field goal percentage twice. He had six career 30 point games and his 18.0 career scoring average ranks sixth all-time.

PROFESSIONAL: He was selected in the 1959 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia Warriors but elected to join a tour in the U.S. Army. After returning to basketball, he enjoyed a three-year professional career and eventually reached the NBA with the San Francisco Warriors in 1962. He was the EPBL Rookie of the Year in 1961.

OTHER: He coached at Wayne State (Nebraska), North Dakota, Buena Vista and Bemidji State. He was head coach at North Dakota for 18 seasons, leading the program to 332 career wins, five North Central Conference titles, eight NCAA Division II tournaments and three Elite Eights. He was inducted into the UND Athletics Letterwinners Hall of Fame in 1987.

Born 7/22/1937 and died on 3/16/2024 at the age of 86.