Sielski brought perspective to La Salle’s current foray
into the college sport’s elite territory, reminding readers of the Explorers’
rich basketball past and especially of Tom Gola, the most prominent player in
the school’s history.
In the summer of 2003 I spoke with Gola, singled out by Street & Smith’s as one of the college game’s all-time best players. Shortly after that interview, I learned that Gola
fell outside a Philadelphia restaurant, hitting his head, and slipped into a
coma. He later suffered a stroke. As Sielski reported in the Wall Street
Journal, Gola, at age 80, now lives in a nursing home in Philadelphia.
No story about the present La Salle team is complete
without reference to the best player of its past. Here, then, is further
background—and my story (from Street & Smith’s 100 Greatest College Basketball Players)—on Gola, who, 58 years after his final college game,
remains the NCAA’s all-time leading rebounder.
Tom Gola is the proverbial golden boy who made good. A winner at every level in basketball, he is one of only two players (with Arnie Ferrin) to have won NIT, NCAA, and NBA titles. And he did it all in his native Philadelphia.
“That’s it, and I’m still there,” said Gola with a laugh.
“Can’t get out of the ghetto.”
Born in the middle of a basketball season on Jan. 13,
1933, Gola was a versatile player who scored 2,222 points and led his team to a
city championship at La Salle High School. He then took his game to nearby La
Salle University, where in 1952 he was co-MVP for the NIT champions as the Explorers
beat Dayton in the final. Two years later, he was named Most Outstanding Player
in the NCAA Tournament as La Salle beat Bradley for the championship. The
following season, Gola averaged 24.1 points for an Explorer team that lost to
San Francisco and Bill Russell in the NCAA final.
The foundation for success for Gola was established early
on.
“I had good coaches,” the three-time consensus
All-America said. “I was 6-6 and 215 pounds in college. The coach that we had,
Ken Loeffler—he’s in the Hall of Fame—he
didn’t believe in a pivot. He played a five-man weave. When I was in high
school, the coach did the same thing to me: He wouldn’t let me play the pivot
either. And in grade school I was the big kid, but the coach said we had to
learn to shoot two-hand sets on the move. And that’s what we used to do.”
Gola was on the wining end in 102 of 121 games in
college, where he averaged 20.9 points and 18.7 rebounds from 1951-55. He ended
his career as La Salle’s all-time leader in points (2,461) and rebounds
(2,201). He remains the NCAA’s all-time rebound leader.
“I always tell people that the biggest thrill of my
basketball life was when I was an 18-year-old freshman at La Salle and we won
the NIT,” Gola said. “We were the Cinderella team, the last one in, and we made
it all the way.
“What was more important was that that season followed
the New York basketball [point-shaving] scandals. And I think [the NIT
championship] rejuvenated basketball in New York because it was in the old Madison
Square Garden and every game was a sellout. We were fortunate to win it, and I
shared the MVP with my teammate Norm Grekin.”
Prosperity continued for Gola in Philly, where he
remained to begin his professional career. He averaged 10.8 points a game as a
rookie with the NBA champion Warriors in 1955-56. Gola finally left town when
the warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962. He finished his playing career with
the New York Knicks in 1966. In 698 pro games Gola averaged 11.3 points, 8.0
rebounds, and 4.2 assists.
Gola returned home to coach the Explorers for two seasons,
leading his team to a 23-1 mark in 1968-69 and to 14-12 in 1969-70. In 1998, La
Salle named its arena after him.
“They usually wait until you die before they do that,”
Gola said dryly.
Gola had already joined the basketball immortals when he
was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976.
No comments:
Post a Comment