A graduate of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, he was the captain of the Trojan basketball team and led the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) in scoring.

In his second stint at Kansas State, following World War II, Gardner's teams won three conference crowns and captured two Big Eight Holiday Tournament championships.

Gardner left Manhattan, Kansas, in 1953 to take over the head coaching reins at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where he remained for 18 years.

To date, Gardner remains one of only three coaches to twice lead two different programs to the Final Four, along with Roy Williams and Rick Pitino, and won eight conference titles.

Gardner worked as a consultant for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1979 (when the team moved from New Orleans) until 1995.