Loyola Cheered as ‘the Bank’ Returns

Paul Westhead and Loyola Marymount will be able to go to the Bank for one more year.

Thursday’s announcement by Hank (the Bank) Gathers that he would return for his final basketball season at Loyola, forgoing an early departure for the National Basketball Assn., drew a sigh of relief around campus and took the weight of several months of decision-grappling off Gathers’ broad shoulders.

Gathers, who had to make a decision by May 13 to enter the NBA draft, made up his mind this week and called a press conference Thursday. With cameras whirring and reporters poised over notebooks, Gathers strode to a podium, took out prepared notes and slyly announced:

“I’ve decided to give up basketball totally and go into boxing.”

Obviously, Gathers is at ease with his real decision: “I’ve decided to stay for my senior season. It would be difficult to leave. I truly have a love for the faculty, students, my teammates and the coaching staff.”

The 6-foot-7 forward this year joined Xavier McDaniel as the only collegians to lead the country in both scoring (32.7) and rebounding (13.7). He consulted NBA officials and scouts as well as family and friends and said he was led to understand that he would have been a late first-round selection this year but that scouts question his shooting touch despite his prolific scoring. A final college season and work on his shooting, he hopes, will enhance his draft standing.

Gathers said he consulted Lakers General Manager Jerry West and NBA scout Marty Blake, whose Court Report publication can greatly affect the NBA draft. Both applauded Gathers’ decision to stay put.

“He should stay in school,” West said, adding that Gathers might not have been chosen in the first round. “People question his shot. Most people don’t think he’s 6-7. You’ve got to be excited by the fact he plays the game so darn hard and accomplishes so much. He’ll have a chance to improve his skills the way they play (at Loyola).”

Blake, contacted in his Atlanta office, said staying “is what I recommended both to him and the school. I think it’s in his best interests. I think he will be a fine pro player, eventually. He’s making a very smart decision.”

Gathers, who will be working on a degree in communications, is turning down a chance at quick money, a major consideration because his family lives in downtrodden north Philadelphia.

“I’m not really in the game for money,” Gathers said. “My family has been in poverty since I can remember. My mother’s OK. One more year won’t make much difference.”

Westhead said he will encourage Gathers to show an expanded perimeter game next season. He said he didn’t directly advise Gathers to leave or stay but tried to give him the facts to weigh.

The coach applauded what he felt was a mature decision. “That’s the sign of a player who saw his career--his life--with some distance: ‘There’s the instant, and there’s the better things if I wait.’ I think his talents will now unfold closer to the maximum.”

There was another factor Gathers considered--the return of Bo Kimble, his running partner since childhood. “It was a bit too early to close the curtains on the Hank and Bo show,” Gathers said. “I don’t think I want to give that up now. We’ve been through thick and thin together.”

Kimble, however, said he had little input in the decision. “We didn’t talk that much at all. The few times I tried to bring it up, we couldn’t see eye-to-eye,” Kimble said.

Gathers said that he leaned toward leaving until recently. Kimble tried to suggest he wasn’t quite ready. “I’m pleased he’s staying,” Kimble said. “He’ll keep the other teams honest. We can put together a dominating year.”

The return of the two Philadelphians gives Loyola an outstanding core of lettermen, including starters Jeff Fryer and Per Stumer and swingman Tom Peabody.

Gathers has a busy schedule before next season. He’s one of the top invitees to Colorado Springs for tryouts to the U.S. team for the World Games. He’ll also play in his hometown Sonny Hill summer league, where he has honed much of his game. He also figures to make several trips to be photographed for various preseason All-American teams. Playboy magazine has tabbed him for its 10-man team.

Gathers said by next season he expects to lift his foul shooting accuracy to 75% or better and to try his hand at three-pointers. “Why not?” Westhead joked. “Everyone else (at Loyola) does.”

Gathers is also eyeing a double-double that has never been accomplished collegiately--leading the country in scoring and rebounding for two straight seasons.

“I want to show some people I can do things I didn’t do last year,” Gathers said. “My dreams have always been to play in the NBA, to help my family. I respect the opinion of Jerry West and Marty Blake, who feel I would truly enhance my image.

“I want to come back and win another West Coast Athletic Conference title and try to get Loyola into the NCAAs. We have a nice schedule (including a game in Philadelphia) and I don’t want to pass that up.”

Clearly, this is one Bank with no fear of failure.