SPARTANBURG, SC -- Jerry Waters, the winningest men's basketball coach in USC Upstate history who led the Spartans to the NAIA National Championship in 1982, died Tuesday, Dec. 1. He was 76.  Waters was the first-ever winner of the PBC Herbert Greene Coach of the Year award following the 1990-91 season and his teams won the first two PBC regular-season men's basketball championships.  Upstate was also the first PBC men's basketball team to play in the NCAA Tournament, receiving an at-large bid in 1991 and again in 1992.  USC Upstate hosted the 1996 NCAA South Regional tournament.

Waters left USC Upstate (then USC Spartanburg) in 1997 as the winningest coach in school history, a title he carries to this day.  He was inducted into the USC Upstate Hall of Fame in 2000.

The teams that Waters led during his tenure at Upstate won an NAIA National Championship in 1982, three NAIA District Six Championships and two Peach Belt Athletic Conference Championships. From 1989 through 1993, the program carried on a 50-game winning streak.

At Upstate, Waters compiled an overall record of 364-133 (.732) and was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year in 1991. During his 47-year career, which included 25 years at the high school level and 22 years at the collegiate level, Waters accumulated an 859-299 (.742) record.