{{short description|American basketball player and coach}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox college coach | name = Joe Dan Gold | image = Joe Dan Gold 1963 yearbook captain photo.jpg | alt = | caption = Gold during the 1962–63 season | birth_date = {{birth date|1942|6|7}} | birth_place = Benton, Kentucky, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|4|14|1942|6|7}} | death_place = West Liberty, Kentucky, U.S. | alma_mater = | player_years1 = 1960–1963 | player_team1 = Mississippi State | player_positions = Forward | coach_years1 = 1964–1965 | coach_team1 = Mississippi State (assistant) | coach_years2 = 1965–1970 | coach_team2 = Mississippi State | coach_years3 = 1971–1973 | coach_team3 = Paducah JC | coach_years4 = 1973–1974 | coach_team4 = Mercer | overall_record = 67–82 | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = | awards = | coaching_records = }} '''Joe Dan Gold''' (June 7, 1942 – April 14, 2011) was an American basketball player and coach, most notably at Mississippi State University.
==Early life and college== Gold, a 6'5 forward was born in Benton, Kentucky;<ref name=ESPN /> he played at Mississippi State from 1960 to 1963, where he helped lead the Bulldogs to three shared or outright Southeastern Conference titles playing for coach Babe McCarthy. Gold averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for his career. He was named third team All-SEC as a senior and was a member of the SEC academic honor roll.<ref name=MEDIA>[http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/16800/pdf/mbk/mbk_1011mg_history.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=16800 2010-11 Mississippi State men's basketball media guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107054310/http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/16800/pdf/mbk/mbk_1011mg_history.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=16800 |date=November 7, 2012 }}, accessed June 11, 2011</ref>
In his senior year, Gold was captain of the first Mississippi State basketball team to compete against African-American players. After turning down NCAA tournament invitations in previous years, Coach McCarthy and his team accepted a bid to the 1963 NCAA tournament (the school's first), where they faced an integrated Loyola of Chicago team in what has since been named the Game of Change. The Bulldogs had to sneak out of the state to play the game, as they defied an order from Mississippi governor Ross Barnett. Gold's pregame handshake with Loyola star Jerry Harkness was the subject of a photograph that was heavily circulated in newspapers across the United States. Loyola won the game and eventually went on to win the national championship that year.<ref name=ESPN>[https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=6354154 Joe Dan Gold dies at age 68], accessed June 11, 2011</ref>
==Coaching career== Following the conclusion of his collegiate playing career, Gold turned to coaching. He became the freshman coach at his alma mater and ultimately an assistant to his mentor Babe McCarthy. After McCarthy resigned in 1965, Gold was named head coach<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19650307&id=Mv4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AJsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1358,829841 Joe Dan Gold gets Miss. State post]</ref> at the age of 23. Gold coached the Bulldogs for five years, compiling a record of 51–74 and resigned in 1970.<ref name=MEDIA />
Gold next coached at Paducah Junior College in Paducah, Kentucky, then took the reins at Mercer in 1973. However, he resigned at the end of his only season there, a successful 16–8 campaign.<ref>{{cite news |title= Gold resigns at Mercer|author= AP report|newspaper= Ocala Star-Banner|date= August 6, 1974 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=m_4jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gAUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4591,1148458&dq=joe+dan+gold&hl=en |accessdate=June 11, 2011}}</ref>
==Post coaching career== After leaving Mercer, Gold became a school administrator in his native Kentucky. He was enshrined in the Mississippi State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.
Gold died on April 14, 2011, following a long illness.<ref name=ESPN /> He was survived by his wife Rosemarie and two children, John Douglas and JoMarie. The couple lived in West Liberty, Kentucky, at the time of his death.<ref>[http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/story/18544449/former-msu-player-and-coach-joe-dan-gold-passes-away Former MSU Player and Coach Joe Dan Gold Passes Away] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018190519/http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/story/18544449/former-msu-player-and-coach-joe-dan-gold-passes-away |date=October 18, 2014 }} Retrieved October 13, 2014.</ref>
==Head coaching record== {{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | conference = | postseason = | poll = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Mississippi State Bulldogs | conference = Southeastern Conference | startyear = 1965 | endyear = 1970 }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1965–66 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 14–11 | conference = 10–6 | confstanding = T–3rd | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1966–67 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 14–11 | conference = 8–10 | confstanding = T–5th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1967–68 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 9–17 | conference = 5–13 | confstanding = 8th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1968–69 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 8–17 | conference = 6–12 | confstanding = 9th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1969–70 | name = Mississippi State | overall = 6–18 | conference = 3–15 | confstanding = 10th | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Mississippi State | overall = 51–74 (.408) | confrecord = 32–56 (.364) }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Mercer Bears | conference = NCAA Division I independent | startyear = 1973 | endyear = 1974 }} {{CBB Yearly Record Entry | season = 1973–74 | name = Mercer | overall = 16–8 | conference = | confstanding = | postseason = }} {{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Mercer | overall = 16–8 (.667) | confrecord = }} {{CBB Yearly Record End | overall = 67–82 (.450) | legend = no }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball coach navbox}} {{Mercer Bears men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Joe Dan}} Category:1942 births Category:2011 deaths Category:American men's basketball coaches Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball coaches from Kentucky Category:Basketball players from Kentucky Category:Forwards (basketball) Category:Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Category:Mercer Bears men's basketball coaches Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players Category:People from Benton, Kentucky Category:People from West Liberty, Kentucky Category:Sportspeople from Paducah, Kentucky Category:20th-century American sportsmen