Gary participated in basketball and tennis while at East High. In basketball, he was a starting guard/forward for the Tomcats in 1977-78 and 1978-79. East High won the Upstate Eight Conference Championship in each of these seasons. Gary started off the 1978-79 season by leading the Tomcats to a 2nd straight championship in the St. Charles Thanksgiving Tournament. He set a tournament single game scoring record of 41 points, and was named MVP of the Tournament. During the Conference season, Gary averaged a record 30 points per game, and was named to the All-Conference 1st Team as well as the UEC Player of the Year. He averaged 29 points per game for the entire 78-79 season, the highest average in the state. Gary was named to the Beacon-News All-Area Team and to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and UPI All-State Teams. In addition, he was named to the Converse All-American Team.

In tennis, Gary played at the #1 singles position in both 1978 and 1979. In 1979, he defeated the West Aurora #1 singles player and finished in 2nd place in the Upstate Eight Conference Tennis Meet.

In September 2001, Gary retired from the United State Army, after 22 years of active service. He then earned a Bachelor's Degree in Management from Davenport University, Lansing, MI and is currently employed by the Social Security Administration.

Gary and his wife Rhonda live in Oswego. They have two children, Tyree and Tara, daughter-in-law Heather, and grandchildren Taylor, Cierra, Cameron, and Jaidyn.