A second announcement was then made that the rest of the game, as well as the evening's second semifinal, which was to have been between San Diego and Pepperdine, would not be played at that time. The crowd filed out silently. Gathers was pronounced dead at Daniel Freeman at p. The Explorers had the game put away and led by 16 with remaining in the contest when word of Gathers's death reached the sidelines at Knickerbocker Arena.
Stunned and distraught, La Salle head coach Speedy Morris reflexively called time-out. As described by a reporter covering the game, Morris then brought his players to the bench and informed them of what he had just learned. Junior guard Doug Overton, who seconds earlier had been wildly grinning and waving a "No. Unsteadily, Overton stood up and headed down the corridor that leads to the locker rooms at the Knickerbocker Arena.
He was sobbing. Teammate Lionel Simmons cried in his mother's arms. The announcers working the game had not yet learned of events at Loyola Marymount, however, and could tell viewers only that "Simmons has suddenly become very emotional, and we don't know why. WCC commissioner Michael Gilleran announced that night that the rest of the league's tournament had been canceled.
As the regular-season champions, Loyola Marymount would be awarded the league's automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. The next day, Westhead said his players had not yet made a decision on whether to continue with the season but that he would honor whatever course of action they chose. Kimble was already saying that Gathers would want the team to play in the NCAA tournament, and, indeed, in short order the players confirmed their intention to continue the season.
Kimble would further announce that, as a tribute to Gathers, he would shoot his first free throw of each game left-handed. Tom Higgins, told of once having said to Gathers, "You're the only person I've ever met funnier than I am.
On Wednesday of that week, the Los Angeles Times anonymously quoted "a cardiologist familiar with the case" who said Gathers had been told to stop playing basketball after the fainting episode in December. It didn't matter what some doctor told him. On Selection Sunday, the entire Loyola Marymount team was on a flight en route to Philadelphia to attend Gathers's funeral. When word circulated through the plane that the Lions had received a No. Loyola started the game by outscoring NMSU , but an overeager Kimble picked up his fourth foul with remaining in the first half.
Westhead nevertheless left his star in the game, triggering boos of disbelief from Loyola fans and causing one New Mexico State player to tell Kimble his coach must be crazy. Asked about leaving Kimble in the game, the coach would explain, "I firmly believe if you have your best player sitting on the bench, he's of no value.
Kimble never did pick up a fifth foul. When he was fouled in the act of shooting for the first time with left in the game, Kimble stepped to the line. The Lions had a lead. He bounced the ball six times with his left hand, and then, instead of a left-handed version of a normal free-throw motion, he executed more of a one-handed push shot.
Once the ball had found the bottom of the net, the crowd in Long Beach erupted loudly and joyously; Kimble had kept the promise he'd made in Gathers's honor. The second, right-handed, free throw also went in, part of the 33 points Kimble would accumulate in the second half alone and the 45 he would score in the game.
In the aftermath of LMU's victory, one in which the Aggies committed 24 turnovers, Coach McCarthy said Loyola "went after the ball like a one-eyed dog in a butcher shop. Defending national champion Michigan no longer had top scorer Glen Rice, but the Wolverines still had four of their five leading scorers from the previous year.
Steve Fisher's team was the No. We have to make sure fatigue is not an opponent. In a way, Fisher's hope was realized. He missed three weeks of action. Gathers did return to the court but struggled a bit in the beginning. With the beta-blocker sapping his strength, he reportedly reduced his intake and once again excelled. Gathers and Co. Only this time, he would never get up. He attempted to sit up but collapsed once again and stopped breathing shortly after.
He was stretchered off the court and it was later determined to have died from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Crump, a thin and unassuming man from Philadelphia, said he had to take time off from work even though he felt no special connection to Bryant before the Jan. Crump said it suddenly became clear he was grieving the loss of another legendary basketball player: his father, Hank Gathers, who once electrified college basketball as a star at Loyola Marymount.
Then everything came out, everything came out. He was pronounced dead at nearby Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital about two hours later. An autopsy found Gathers died of cardiomyopathy, a heart-muscle disorder.
Gathers had been diagnosed with an abnormal heartbeat after collapsing during a game earlier in the season. For most of the three decades since then, Crump said, grief has remained buried inside of him — and perhaps partly responsible for his troubled past.
Still embarrassed by his felony conviction, Crump nonetheless flew to Los Angeles with two friends for the unveiling of a statue honoring his father on Saturday.
The dedication ceremony at Loyola Marymount took place five days after a memorial service was held for Bryant and his daughter at the Staples Center. A bronze statue of Gathers came into view, and it captured the barrel-chested forward as many remember him — wearing jersey No. He led the nation in scoring and rebounding as a junior during the season, and his signature game came the next season when Loyola Marymount played at mighty LSU.
Gathers finished with 48 points and 13 rebounds and almost willed his team to an improbable victory before Loyola Marymount fell in overtime. Fearless and relentless, Gathers embodied the spirit of those high-scoring Loyola Marymount teams. He was a projected lottery pick for the June NBA draft, too, before it all ended in tragedy. As the crowd began to disperse after the statue unveiling Saturday, Crump stood at the base of the statue. He gazed up at the bronze statue of his father.
His eyes welled up in tears.
0コメント