Hank Gathers

Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. (February 11, 1967 – March 4, 1990) was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season. Gathers was a consensus second-team All-American as a senior in 1990. His No. 44 was retired by the Lions, who also placed a statue of him in his honor outside their home arena Gersten Pavilion.

Gathers began his college career with the USC Trojans, but transferred with teammate Bo Kimble to Loyola Marymount after his freshman year. Playing under Lions coach Paul Westhead and his fast-paced system, Gathers was a three-time first-team All-WCC selection. In his first season with the Lions, he earned the first of two consecutive most valuable player (MVP) honors in the WCC tournament. As a junior, he was named the WCC Player of the Year and began receiving All-American recognition. Early in his senior year in 1989–90, Gathers was diagnosed with an abnormal heartbeat after he collapsed during a game. He was placed on medication and returned a few weeks later, but he initially struggled, which he attributed to his medication. The dosage was gradually decreased, and his play recovered. Gathers died at age 23 after collapsing for the second time that season during the semifinals of the 1990 WCC tournament.

Early life

Gathers was born to Lucille and Eric Gathers Sr. in Philadelphia. 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. 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. 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."

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, 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:<blockquote>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 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 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

External links

LMU Lions bio
Remembering a fallen Lion, 20 years later
Stan Hochman: Hank Gathers still touching friends, strangers 20 years after his death
Poole: Hank Gathers had heart until he died, 20 years ago Thursday
March 4, 1990: Hank Gathers collapses, a day I will never forget as a reporter
Twenty Years After: Hank Gathers Stirs Memories for His Family