Jerry played basketball at Pasadena High School and Pasadena City College at the start of the 1950s. He then transferred and was a college scholarship player at Fresno State, and then earned a Master’s degree at the University of Redlands before turning to coaching. He coached at both Antelope Valley and Redlands High School, and then moved to Riverside and Pasadena Junior Colleges in the middle 1960s where he won four straight California JC State Titles (3 at Riverside). He put Long Beach State on the basketball map when he took over in 1968, reaching four straight NCAA Tournaments, and almost knocking off UCLA and John Wooden twice.

He then spent the next 21 years as the head coach at UNLV, winning the NCAA title in 1990, and going to four Final Fours (1977, 1987, 1990, 1991). At UNLV, 39 of his players were drafted for the NBA, plus he was able to coach his son Danny, who was a HM All-American. After leaving college to coach in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, he came back and finished his college career at Fresno State from 1995-2002. He won 778 games in his career, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. He passed away February 11, 2015 at the age of 84.