Hank Gathers

Early life

Gathers was born to Lucille and Eric Gathers Sr. in Philadelphia. Growing up in the Raymond Rosen Projects, he stayed out of trouble by playing basketball.

Gathers played prep ball at Dobbins Technical High School, located in North Philadelphia.

College career

USC

Gathers and Kimble were not friends until their senior year at Dobbins. Both of them were recruited to the University of Southern California (USC) by head coach Stan Morrison and his top assistant David Spencer. During a visit to USC, the two recruits were told that the area around campus was deemed a slum. Gathers and Kimble, however, considered the area to be a suburb compared to their home of Philadelphia. Gathers made up his mind early that he would join USC, while Kimble decided independently and only after spurning Temple late. They were joined on the Trojans by high school All-American, Tom Lewis, and Rich Grande as the "Four Freshmen" star recruiting class. Following an 11–17 season in 1985–86, Morrison and Spencer were fired despite having won the Pac-10 Conference the previous year. It was reported that the players would not remain unless certain conditions were met, including having a say in the next coaching staff.

USC hired George Raveling as the next head coach of the Trojans. Raveling gave the players a deadline to respond whether they would remain on the team. When they did not respond, he revoked the scholarships of Gathers, Kimble, and Lewis. Raveling's controversial statement was, "You can't let the Indians run the reservation," he said. "You've got to be strong, too. Sometimes you have to tell them that they have to exit." Kimble and Gathers transferred together from USC to Loyola Marymount University (LMU). Lewis transferred to Pepperdine. Grande remained at USC.

Loyola Marymount

Due to NCAA regulations, Gathers and Kimble could not play in the season following their transfer. They helped lead the Lions to a 28–4 record in 1987–88. Gathers led the team that year in both scoring and rebounding (averaging 22.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game), was named first-team All-WCC and was awarded the WCC tournament MVP. In the 1988–89 season, Gathers became the second player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season,{{efn|Xavier McDaniel was the first in 1984–85. He was named WCC Player of the Year and again won the WCC Tournament MVP. After the season, he decided against declaring for the NBA draft.

As a senior in 1989–90, he was a candidate for national player of the year and projected as an NBA lottery pick. LMU's 122.4 point per game in 1990 is still a record as of April 2012. As of April 2012, Loyola Marymount held the five highest combined score games in Division I history. Four of the five occurred during Gathers' career, including a record 331 in the 181–150 win over United States International University on January 31, 1989.

At 6 ft and 210 lb, Gathers was Loyola Marymount's strongest inside player. He had a high field goal percentage because he seldom shot from beyond 10 ft. He used his power and quickness for follow-up baskets and scoring on fast breaks. "I don't care much about the points," said Gathers. "In fact, I should lead the nation in scoring because of my rebounding. Anybody can score 30 points a night if that's what he's concentrating on. But rebounding is special because it comes from the heart."

Heart condition and death

On December 9, 1989, Gathers collapsed at an LMU home game against UC Santa Barbara. He was found to have an abnormal heartbeat (exercise-induced ventricular tachycardia), and was prescribed a beta blocker, Inderal. Originally prescribed at 240 milligrams per day, his Inderal dosage was cut to 40 mg per day over the next three months. Gathers returned after sitting out for three weeks and missing two games, However, he struggled with his play for weeks after returning. The Lions won seven of their next eight games, and Gathers recorded a career-high 30 rebounds against Saint Mary's.

On February 26, 1990, as the WCC Tournament neared, Gathers' medication was reduced one last time from 80 to 40 mg, on the condition that he undergo testing in a couple of days to determine if it was safe and effective at suppressing the arrhythmias. He did not show up for his test that week and avoided calls from his cardiologist's office.

On Sunday, March 4, Gathers collapsed again with 13:34 left in the first half of the semifinal game against the Portland Pilots. He had just scored a dunk on an alley-oop pass from point guard Terrell Lowery that put the Lions up 25–13. He attempted to get up, telling the athletic trainers, "I don't want to lay down!" Shortly after, he stopped breathing. Gathers was pronounced dead at nearby Marina Del Rey Hospital at 6:55 PM PST. He was 23 years old.

Minutes after Gathers was taken to the hospital, the WCC commissioner suspended the game indefinitely. ESPN showed graphic footage of Gathers' collapse on SportsCenter; the network was at the game recording advance footage for the championship game it was scheduled to televise the next night. Late that night, the WCC canceled the tournament and awarded Loyola the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament due to its WCC regular season title.

Gathers was buried at the Mount Lawn Cemetery in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania. Loyola Marymount settled out of court for $1.4 million, while the cardiologist who treated Gathers settled for $1 million.

Legacy

Loyola Marymount was placed in the West Regional as the No. 11 seed in that season's NCAA tournament. Before the tournament, the right-handed Kimble vowed to shoot his first free throw of each game left-handed, in memory of Gathers. Though naturally right-handed, Gathers was a poor free-throw shooter and had switched to shooting them left-handed. The Lions advanced to the Elite Eight, including a victory over defending national champion Michigan, before falling to the eventual champions, UNLV.}} Both LMU's Cinderella story without Gathers and Kimble's left-handed tributes to him became part of NCAA tournament lore.

Gathers was named a consensus second-team All-America and first team All-WCC selection for the season. He finished his career averaging 28.0 points and making 59 percent of his field goals, which were both school records as of 2010. He also averaged 11.1 rebounds for his career. He was voted WCC Player of the Decade for the 1980s.

Gersten Pavilion, LMU's on-campus athletics facility, is known to Lions fans as "Hank's House", although that is not part of its official name. His No. 44 and Kimble's No. 30 were retired by LMU in a joint ceremony in 2000. In 2005, the entire 1989–90 team was inducted into Loyola Marymount's Hall of Fame. On February 29, 2020, four days before the 30th anniversary of his death, a statue of Gathers was unveiled outside Gersten Pavilion. The statue was created by Rotblatt-Amrany, which designed multiple statues outside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, as well as the Michael Jordan statue in Chicago.

Gathers' life was dramatized in a 1992 TV movie, Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story, with Victor Love starring as Gathers. Gathers was part of the storyline in the ESPN film Guru of Go about Westhead, part of their 30 for 30 series.

Gathers' death reemerged in national news wires during the 2016 NBA Playoffs when Kimble, interviewed for the celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, urged that Miami Heat star Chris Bosh retire for health reasons. Bosh has been suffering from blood clotting issues that forced him to miss the last several months of both the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, as well as the entirety of the 2016–17 season. While Bosh felt that he was healthy enough to continue playing, Kimble disagreed:There are so many other things he could do with his life. Hank Gathers had the same thing, Hank could have been a comedian, an actor or did speaking engagements. It's not worth the risk. I would just say absolutely not, don't do it. If Hank had the ability to do it again he wouldn't have paid the ultimate price ... I am sure [Bosh] has children and they are going to need their father around as much as possible.

Career statistics

|- | 28 || 12 || 23.9 || .529 || – || .576 || 5.1 || .8 || .6 || .4 || 8.3 |- | 32 || 31 || 29.6 || .562 || .000 || .543 || 8.7 || 1.3 || 1.4 || .7 || 22.5 |- | 31 || 31 || 34.1 || .608 || .000 || .562 || 13.7 || 2.1 || 1.4 || .7 || 32.7 |- | 26 || 26 || 30.2 || .595 || .000 || .568 || 10.8 || 1.5 || 1.7 || .9 || 29.0 |- | 117 || 100 || 29.6 || .585 || .000 || .560 || 9.6 || 1.4 || 1.3 || .7 || 23.3 |-

Awards and records

Awards

• 1989 WCC Player of the Year
• 2× WCC Tournament MVP (1988, 1989)
• Consensus second-team All-American (1990)
• 3× First-team All-WCC (1988, 1989, 1990)
• 2× All-WCC Tournament (1988, 1989)

Records

WCC

• Career points (2,490)
• Field goals made, career (1,037)
• Field goals made, season (419)
• Free throws attempted, career (745)
• Free throws attempted, season (315) LMU
• Career scoring average (28.0)
• Field goals made, game (24)
• Field goals attempted, game (37)
• Field goal percentage, career (.590)
• Rebounds, game (29)

Achievements

• 1989 NCAA Division I scoring leader
• 1989 NCAA Division I rebounding leader

Personal life

Gathers was 16 when his son, Aaron Crump, was born. He gained control of the money when he turned 18. It became a problem for Crump, who later described himself as a "young black male with no guidance" at that time. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a weapon, and was in a state prison from 2007 until 2012. By the time he was released, the settlement money he received from Gathers' death had been squandered.

Gathers' nephew, D.J. Rivera, played college basketball at St. Joesph's University before transferring to Binghamton University and leading the America East Conference in scoring with the Binghamton Bearcats in the 2008–09 season, in which they won the conference for the first time and earned their first bid to the NCAA tournament, where Rivera scored 20 points in a first-round loss against Duke. He later transferred to the University of Montevallo, losing in the Division II championship game in 2012.

Notes

References

References

1. Silary, Ted. (March 6, 2000). "In memory, he lives forever". Philadelphia Daily News.
2. Rhoden, William C.. (March 13, 1990). "A Final Salute for Hank Gathers; Player's Funeral Brings Out the Best in Philadelphia". The New York Times.
3. Lee, Michael. (February 29, 2020). "'His heart was bigger than life:' 30 years after Hank Gathers' passing". The Athletic.
4. Howard-Cooper, Scott. (March 6, 1990). "The death of Hank Gathers: High school mourns distant symbol of pride : Philadelphia: Dobbins Tech, which won a city championship with Kimble and Gathers, has a special feeling of loss.". [[Los Angeles Times]].
5. Silary, Ted. (March 6, 2000). "Gathers (Continued from Preceding Page)". Philadelphia Daily News.
6. Harvey, Randy - [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-13-sp-6015-story.html Un-Raveling at USC: A Failure to Communicate]. ''Los Angeles Times'', May 13, 1986
7. Florence, Mal - [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-19-sp-1402-story.html Freshmen Make Sweet Music in USC Victory]. ''Los Angeles Times'', January 18, 1986. "The young players--Hank Gathers, Tom Lewis, Bo Kimble and Rich Grande--all contributed Saturday afternoon as USC beat Arizona State, 81-72, at the Sports Arena."
8. Fleischman, Bill -[https://web.archive.org/web/20110726005831/http://articles.philly.com/1986-03-28/sports/26082131_1_stan-morrison-george-raveling-usc Raveling Leaves Iowa To Take Reins At USC]. ''Philadelphia Daily News'', March 28, 1986
9. Florence, Mal [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-04-29-sp-2355-story.html Taken From 3 USC Freshmen : Lewis, Gathers and Kimble Receive Word From Raveling]. ''Los Angeles Times'', April 15, 1986
10. Sands, Vernon - [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-04-05-sp-21706-story.html At Least, If Raveling Gives a Hoot, Then So Does His USC Team]. ''Los Angeles Times'', April 5, 1986
11. Hudson, Maryann. (March 6, 1990). "The death of Hank Gathers: Spencer sold USC on work ethic of a Philadelphia kid". [[Los Angeles Times]].
12. Hersch, Hank. (February 13, 1989). ["Gathers 'round The Rim"](http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=Hank+Gathers+helped+Loyola+Marymount+win+181-150+-+02.13.89+-+SI+Vault&urlID=412992972&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1126533%2Findex.htm }}{{Dead link).
13. Loyola Marymount Athletics. (November 2, 2010). "2010–11 Loyola Marymount University Men's Basketball Media Almanac". LMULions.com.
14. [[#loyola2010. Loyola 2010, p.77]]
15. Maxey, Wendell. (March 4, 2010). "Hank Gathers' legacy endures 20 years after tragic on-court death". [[USA Today]].
16. Peters, Nick. (March 6, 1990). "Hank Gathers' Star Shone Bright On and Off Basketball Court". Los Angeles Times.
17. NCAA. (November 10, 2010). "2010–11 NCAA Men's Basketball Records - Division I Records". [[National Collegiate Athletic Association.
18. [[#ncaa2010. NCAA 2010, p.5]]
19. Eggers, Kerry. (March 3, 2011). "Remembering Hank Gathers". [[The Portland Tribune]].
20. Weinberg, Rick. (July 8, 2004). "62: Hank Gathers collapses, dies of a heart condition". ESPN.com.
21. Hudson, Maryann. (October 6, 1992). "A Legacy on Court, in Court". Los Angeles Times.
22. (March 29, 1990). "The Last Months Of Hank Gathers". The New York Times.
23. Herbert, Steven. (April 19, 1992). "The Pride of the Lions: Film follows the life of Loyola's Hank Gathers until his 'Final Shot' two years ago". Los Angeles Times.
24. From the ESPN [[30 for 30]] film "Guru of Go", premiered April 3, 2010
25. (March 4, 2015). "25 Years Later: The Night Hank Gathers Collapsed". Olbermann.
26. (March 5, 1990). "Loyola's Gathers Collapses, Dies". Los Angeles Times.
27. Stewart, Larry. (March 6, 1990). "This Was a Story That Was Tough to Watch, and Difficult to Cover". Los Angeles Times.
28. (March 5, 1990). "Other Reactions: WCC Cancels Tournament; TV's Footage Is Dramatic". Los Angeles Times.
29. Hudson, Maryann. (March 31, 1992). "Loyola Settles Lawsuit by Gathers' Mother: Jurisprudence: She receives $545,000". [[Los Angeles Times]].
30. Hudson, Maryann. (September 10, 1992). "Gathers Lawsuit Is Dismissed: Jurisprudence: Case against two doctors ends when family members don't appear to testify". [[Los Angeles Times]].
31. "1990 MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT". CBSSports.com.
32. (March 10, 1990). "Lions to return to practice floor". The Baxter Bulletin.
33. Parrish, Gary. (February 22, 2007). "Memorable Moment No. 4: Bo's lefty tribute is right on target". CBSSports.com.
34. Klingaman, Mike. (March 16, 2006). "CINDERELLAS RELIVE DREAMS". The Baltimore Sun.
35. "Bo Kimble 1989-90 Game Log".
36. [[#loyola2010. Loyola 2010, p.78]]
37. Drooz, Alan. (March 7, 1990). "As in His Life, Gathers Stirs Ovations : Memorial: Family, friends fill Gersten Pavilion to pay tribute to the late Loyola Marymount star.". [[Los Angeles Times]].
38. Plaschke, Bill. (January 31, 2010). "Hank Gathers lives on in his house". [[Los Angeles Times]].
39. Dufrense, Chris. (February 20, 2000). "Paying Respects in HANK'S HOUSE". Los Angeles Times.
40. Stephens, Eric. (January 30, 2005). "Lion Hearts Soar on a Special Night at Loyola". [[Los Angeles Times]].
41. (February 29, 2020). "Hank Gathers Statue Unveiled at LMU".
42. "Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story (1992)". [[The New York Times]].
43. Sepinwall, Allan. (April 2, 2010). "30 for 30, 'Guru of Go': Paul Westhead, Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, together again". [[The Star-Ledger]].
44. (May 22, 2016). "Bo Kimble to Chris Bosh: Time to Retire; NBA Ain't Worth Dying For". TMZ.com.
45. West Coast Conference. (November 11, 2010). "2010–11 Men's Basketball Guide".
46. Peters, Josh. (March 4, 2020). "Hank Gathers' son carries the weight of basketball legend's tragic death 30 years later". USA Today.
47. (March 19, 2009). "Binghamton's Rivera, a Philly kid, puts snub behind". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
48. (March 25, 2012). "Western Washington wins first Div. II crown". Star-Gazette.
49. (March 20, 2009). "Binghamton's Rivera makes his case against the tide". [[Philadelphia Inquirer]].
50. Braziller, Zach. (March 3, 2016). "Jordan Gathers carries legacy of Loyola Marymount legend". New York Post.
51. "Men's Basketball Bios: 5 - Jordan Gathers". [[Butler Bulldogs]].