Gilmore’s Little Brother Isn’t So Little

Oren Gilmore is still Artis Gilmore’s little brother, but the 6-foot-10 junior is quietly making a name for himself at tiny North Georgia College after spending two frustrating years at Florida State.

Like his brother, the 7-foot center who starred at Jacksonville University and went on to fame in the National Basketball Assn., Oren Gilmore was highly recruited while an All-State performer at Bloomtownship High School in Chicago Heights, Ill.

The younger Gilmore chose Florida State so he could play under Joe Williams, the man who coached his brother at Jacksonville.

But after averaging 14 points and 8 rebounds per game as a sophomore two years ago, he decided to leave.

“He’s never been specific about what went on there,” said North Georgia Coach Bill Ensley in a telephone interview from the school’s campus at Dahlonega. “He just said he had some problems of some nature. He doesn’t talk about it.”

“It was academic problems and a few other problems that go along with major college basketball,” Gilmore said without elaborating.

He sat out a year, and a chance conversation between North Georgia assistant coach Randy Dunn and a former assistant at Florida State led to his enrollment at North Georgia.

“When Randy said 6-10, it naturally got our attention,” said Ensley. “Coach Dunn chatted with Oren, invited him and his mother up for a visit, momma liked it and it all worked out.”

Gilmore, averaging 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds, has paced North Georgia to a 17-10 overall record and a 13-5 mark in NAIA District 25 play. The Saints open first-round play in the district playoffs Saturday night in a bid for a third straight appearance at the finals in Kansas City.

Why did Gilmore decide to return to school, and why North Georgia in particular?

“Well, I had been sitting out for a year and after thinking about it, decided I wanted to get back to school. Coach Dunn called and not too many schools knew I was ready to go back to school,” he said.

“I felt it was better to go to a smaller school which was good academically and also had a good basketball program. I think it was a wise choice.”

Gilmore, who has been getting C grades while majoring in physical education, said he is “going to stay and graduate. Hopefully I can go over to Europe and make some money playing basketball, then come back home and maybe have a career in coaching.”

Ensley, who has a 260-153 record in 14 years at the 1,800-student school 60 miles north of Atlanta, lost all five starters from last year’s squad and didn’t know what to expect of his current crew.

“We kind of built the team around Oren this year. He certainly is the focal point and the strength of our team. He is the hub, there’s no question about it.

“Every team we play, all five people are backing in on him. We’ve seen every type zone imaginable. We’re beginning to adjust to it and take advantage of it. The last two weeks things have started to fall into place,” he said.

Ensley said the pressures of being the brother of Artis Gilmore, the San Antonio center who is averaging 18.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, don’t seem to be a big problem for Oren.

“There’s been no problem with us. We’ve gotten a lot of publicity and recognition we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise,” he said. “Sometimes there are some problems with Oren because he’s in the limelight wherever he goes.

“But I don’t think it has distracted from his play. I’ve heard him say it seems to inspire his opponent more than it affects him.”

The younger Gilmore agreed.

“Yea. I think they get up a little more for me. But, I’m not aware of any pressure being his brother. I don’t think it bothers me any,” he said.