Wilfred O. "Gus" Doerner was an American professional basketball player for the Fort Wayne Pistons and Indianapolis Kautskys of the National Basketball League.
Education
A native of Evansville, Indiana, Doerner attended Mackey High School and was a stand-out basketball player. When he graduated in 1938, he decided to stay close to home and attend Evansville College (now known as the University of Evansville).
Career
Not to be confused with Gus Dorner, an American professional baseball player. In three years on the team, he earned all-county and all-sectional accolades twice apiece, and in his senior year was named a team captain. He played on the Purple Aces basketball team for all four years, lettering each season.
Doerner was a 6 ft 2 in (188 m) forward and had a breakout senior season in 1941-1942.
That year, he recorded the third-highest scoring average in the nation and led Indiana collegians in scoring for the second time. He guided Evansville to the 1942 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men"s Division I Basketball Tournament where they would lose in the second round.
He was named to the all-tournament team and was also selected as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Tournament Most Valuable Player. Doerner became the first Evansville player to receive All-America status when he was honored as a consensus Second Team All-American selection. After college he played in the NBL, the only viable professional basketball league in the United States at the time.
Doerner was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for his success at the high school, college and professional levels of basketball, all within the state of Indiana.