Amory Tingle "Slats" Gill (May 1, 1901 – April 5, 1966) was an American college basketball coach, the head coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis for 36 seasons. As a player, Gill was twice named to the All-Pacific Coast Conference basketball team. As head coach, he amassed 599 victories with a winning percentage of .604. Gill was also the head coach of the baseball team for six seasons and later was the OSU athletic director. Gill is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. He is also honored as the namesake of Gill Coliseum, opened in 1949, venue for basketball, wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics at OSU. Early years Born in Salem, Oregon, Gill was the youngest of eight children and his father died when he was a child. His nickname "Slats" was given to him at age 12; he was swimming in a local pond one summer afternoon and upon exiting the pond, a buddy joked with Gill about his scrawny frame with his ribs protruding, which he said looked like slats in a picket fence. Gill was from then on known as "Slats." Gill was an athlete from his youth, excelling in basketball and baseball at Salem High School and graduated in 1920. Gill was named to all-state teams as a junior and senior. Gill attended Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis. While at OAC, he played baseball and earned varsity letters in basketball from 1922 to 1924. A forward for the "Aggies" on their starting five, Gill was named to the All Conference team for the Pacific Coast Conference in 1922. In March 1923, Gill was unanimously elected captain of the OAC basketball team by his peers for his 1923–24 senior season. He was named to the All-Pacific Coast Conference team for a second time following that 1923–24 season. Gill met his wife, the former Helen Boyer of Portland, on a blind date at OAC in the early 1920s. The couple married in 1932. They raised two children, daughter Jane Gill (born 1933), and son John Amory Gill (1937–2014). Basketball coaching career With his all-star basketball credentials firmly established, Gill was determined to go into the coaching profession following graduation. Gill's first head coaching job was at a high school in Oakland, California. After one season coaching