Augustus George "Gus" Ganakas (July 3, 1926 – January 11, 2019) was an American sports broadcaster, athletics administrator, and coach of the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team.
[6] Controversially, a number of black players walked out on coach Ganakas before a key Big Ten game on January 4, 1975, against Indiana.
[7][8] Ganakas was dismissed after the conclusion of the next season on March 16, 1976,[9] but stayed with Michigan State as an Assistant Athletic Director through 1998 and then as an advisor to Spartan Head Coach Tom Izzo through 2000.
Instead, he made sure that the local high school superstar Earvin Johnson knew that Michigan State was still the right place for him to attend and that new coach Jud Heathcote was the right guy to play for.
[15] Ganakas was married to his wife Ruth who died in 2014,[17] and was survived by his children Gail, Gary, Greg, Anne, Amy and Marcy.