Dairese Gary


Dairese Layton Gary is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball at New Mexico, where he was named First-team All-MWC in 2010 and 2011.

High school career

Gary attended Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, lettering in two sports, basketball and football. During his junior year at Concord, Gary led the team to the sectional title, averaging 22.3 point per game, four rebounds per game and two assists per game while guiding Concord to a 22–2 record. During his senior year, he led Concord back to another winning record, 13–7, while compiling 21.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He shot 56.3% from the floor, 34.7% from three-point range and 69.0% from the foul line during his senior season. He finish his high school career at Concord scoring 1,330 points and as a two-time first team all-area selection, enough to garner a three-star rating from Scout.com. He verbally committed to play for Steve Alford at Iowa as a sophomore, but signed a letter of intent at New Mexico after Alford was hired at the school. "I don't know much about, I know it's warm," he said. Gary's nickname is "Little Bus” because of al resemblance to former NFL running back Jerome “The Bus” Bettis.

College career

Freshman year, 2007–2008

Gary started the last 28 games as the team's point guard, the most starts at from a freshman at point guard in nearly ten years. Gary led the Lobos in assists, and second on the team in steals. Gary posted a season-high 18 points in an 80–63 victory over Texas Tech on December 15, connecting on all four of his 3-point attempts. On February 13, 2008, he scored 12 points in a 73-63 win at San Diego State. Due to his freshman success, CollegeHoops.net named Gary and honorable mention High-Major All-Freshman after helping the J. R. Giddens-led team to a 24–9 record, including a NIT berth.
Games playedGames startedMinutes/GamePoints/GameRebounds/GameAssists/GameField goal percentage3pt. field goal percentageFree throw percentage
332823.57.82.33.244.5%39.1%73.9%

Sophomore year, 2008–2009

After a year as the team's starting point guard, Gary's role was more defined as he began flourishing in his new role, being the only player to start every game. He was second in the Mountain West Conference in assists, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio and ninth in steals. Along with players like junior Roman Martinez, and seniors Daniel Faris, Chad Toppert and Tony Danridge, the Lobos posted a 22–12 record and a NIT berth, advancing to the second round where Gary put up 15 points, four assists and a pair of steals in a losing effort to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Gary was also instrumental in a late season victory against Colorado State, putting up 18 points, eight assists and four rebounds in an 81-79 double-OT win.
Games playedGames startedMinutes/GamePoints/GameRebounds/GameAssists/GameField goal percentage3pt. field goal percentageFree throw percentage
343423.98.12.24.143.6%39.2%72.1%

Junior year, 2009–2010

After the departure of the aforementioned Faris, Toppert and Danridge, the burden of leading the New Mexico team to success fell on the shoulders of Roman Martinez, Darington Hobson and Gary. They posted a 12-game winning streak, in which Gary posted five games scoring double figures, including a 21-point, 4-assist, 4-rebound game at the University of San Diego on December 9. Despite the preseason fifth-place rank the Lobos were picked in the Mountain West Conference, the Lobos won 14 straight in the conference, with Gary averaging 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds during the streak, including 23 points or greater in three games. Gary was honored for his play be being First-Team All-Mountain West and part of the All-Defensive Team in the Mountain West Conference.
Games playedGames startedMinutes/GamePoints/GameRebounds/GameAssists/GameField goal percentage3pt. field goal percentageFree throw percentage
353528.613.12.83.945.0%34.1%75.0%

Senior Year, 2010–2011

Just like the year before, Gary has been saddled with a young team lacking leaders and experience, as there was only one senior, three juniors and eight underclassmen. Nonetheless, Gary, a Preseason All-Conference member, led the Lobos in points and assists. Gary had a double-double against then-ranked No. 9 BYU in an 86–77 win in The Pit on January 30, 2011. Steve Alford said after the game: “In the end, it’s that one guy again, Dairese Gary. He plays all 40 minutes, he’s guarding the best player on the other team. This is what Dairese has done his entire career, and we’re seeing a very special player come into the last half of his.” Gary followed that by posting career-highs in points in back-to-back games against UNLV and TCU, putting up 26 and 32 points, respectively. Like his junior year, Gary was honored by being named First-Team All-Mountain West and part of the All-Defensive Team in the Mountain West. However, in a semifinals game in a Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament game against BYU, Gary tore his ACL, ending his collegiate career. He averaged 14.1 points per game. Gary is 13th in career scoring at New Mexico with 1,458 points, and is 4th in assists with 564. After the season, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated, a week after teammate Chad Adams was arrested for the same offense.
Games playedGames startedMinutes/GamePoints/GameRebounds/GameAssists/GameField goal percentage3pt. field goal percentageFree throw percentage
333333.814.13.25.548.2%33.7%78.0%

Professional career

He was forced to sit out the season after his injury and became a graduate assistant for the Lobos. Gary was selected by the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the first round of the 2012 NBA D-League draft. He was immediately traded to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. "It feels good to be a member of the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants," said Gary. "And it feel s great be able to play basketball again, especially for my home state and in front of my family." In 2014, he was picked up by Somouha Alexandria in the Egyptian league.