RIP Hank Gathers... 19 Years Ago Today

I can’t remember when I went to my first Pilot game at the Chiles Center. Maybe I was five, maybe six. I can’t remember what teams we played or what our record was over the years. Even though I’ve seen almost every game in each of the last 16 seasons, I can’t even remember the names of all the Pilot players of yesteryear.

But I can’t ever forget Hank Gathers.

And I can’t ever forget when he collapsed and died on the court – suddenly, unexpectedly, tragically – exactly 15 years ago to the day.

Just the name sends my memory back to 1990, when the Loyola Marymount Lions were the toast of the West Coast Conference (WCC) and a graceful, acrobatic and muscular 6’8” All-American center named Hank Gathers was the best basketball player I’d ever seen in my life. LMU had just beaten UP 123-106 (the second-highest scoring game in Chiles Center history) and my seven-year-old self could only watch in amazement.

Of course, I hated him because he beat my beloved Pilots, but young as I was I grasped that I had just experienced greatness. He was – he still is – the best player in WCC history this side of Bill Russell.

Gathers led the nation in scoring (32.7) and rebounding (13.7) as a junior. In his senior season, he led the Lions to a 26-6 record and a top-25 ranking. Though he only played three seasons at LMU (he transferred from Southern Cal after his freshman year), he is still the WCC’s career scoring leader with 2490 points. His team averaged (averaged !) 129.8 points per game in the ’89-’90 season. He was a sure-fire lottery pick and was brimming with the kind of hunger and talent that makes an NBA star.

And he was dead at 23.

No chance for March Madness glory. No chance for NBA stardom. No chance for his dream of becoming a sports announcer.

Gathers died on March 4, 1990, while playing Portland in the semi-finals of the WCC tournament. He had just slammed home a thunderous dunk to score his eighth point and give LMU an early 25-13 lead. He high-fived his teammate. He turned around to get back on defense. He crumpled to the floor, convulsing.

He was dead within minutes – the sold-out crowd in stunned silence, his teammates watching in horror, the Pilots circled in prayer.

The cause of death was an irregular heartbeat that caused him to faint during a game earlier in the season. Doctors cleared him to play and prescribed him medication to control the problem. But it wasn’t enough, and Gathers’ heart, the key to his dominance on the court, was ultimately his downfall.

The WCC tournament was cancelled and LMU, as regular season champs, were given the conference’s automatic bid. Though burdened with heavy hearts and a truly unfair 11 seed, the Lions captivated the country as they went all the way to the Elite Eight, finally falling to eventual champion UNLV. During that run, they set the tournament record (which they still hold) for points scored in a game, torching title hopeful Michigan 149-115. Emblazoned in the memory of all college basketball fans are Bo Kimble’s left-handed free throws done in tribute to the left-handed Gathers, Kimble’s former high-school rival from Philadelphia, college teammate and best friend. The normally right-handed Kimble didn’t miss a single one.

As the WCC tournament approaches this upcoming weekend, I truly hope they take a moment to honor Gathers on the 15th anniversary of his death. Those of us who were lucky enough to see him play know of the greatness that could have been – the NBA All-Star games, the TV commercials, the posters hanging on countless kids’ rooms.

But for me, I’m just happy and thankful I got to witness someone so special play. The confluence of supreme talent with a love of a game that Gathers embodied formed something beautiful, something unforgettable, even for a second-grader. I’ll cheer for my Pilots as long as I can still see the court or listen to the radio, but I have the feeling I won’t ever see another player quite like Hank.

R.I.P. Hank Gathers (2/11/1967 – 3/4/1990).

DaTruRochin wrote:Yeah, the tourney was actually hosted @ LMU that year if I recall correctly....