‘We Weren’t Told’: Loyola : Athletic Dept. Denies Knowing MDs Warned Gathers : Basketball Star Died on the Court

Loyola Marymount’s athletic director today said he had no knowledge that doctors had told Hank Gathers to quit playing basketball after he fainted during a game in December.

Brian Quinn, reacting to a report in the Los Angeles Times on Gathers, who collapsed and died during a game Sunday, said: “In all honesty we’re not hiding anything. I don’t have answers. If he was told not to play, I didn’t know about it. No doctor has talked to me about that.

“Hank has been seen by more than one physician. He went through a battery of tests. He could have been seen by as many as 10 physicians.

“Loyola Marymount operated on the best medical advice of those doctors that we work with who gave medical clearance for him to participate. To the best of my knowledge Hank was taking his medication. I know nothing of him missing any appointments with any doctors.”

The Times reported that Gathers, who was known to have cardiac arrhythmia, may have stopped taking heart medicine before his death Sunday. (Story, C1). The high-scoring Loyola Marymount star also did not appear for his weekly treadmill test in the days before he died, The Times said, quoting a cardiologist who asked not to be identified.

Gathers died Sunday after collapsing near midcourt in a West Coast Conference tournament game against Portland. He was pronounced dead at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital about 90 minutes later.

The school’s head trainer, Chip Schaefer, said, “I had no knowledge of any cardiologist telling him not to play.”

And Coach Paul Westhead, hurriedly walking toward his office, said: “I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything.”

Sports information director Berry Zepel said he only knew the name of one cardiologist treating Gathers, Dr. Vernon Hattori.

“There might have been other cardiologists who consulted but I don’t know who they were,” he said.

Chris Knight, a 20-year-old sophomore who will probably replace Gathers at center, recalled Schaefer’s saying Gathers was unhappy with his medication.

“I just know Chip said Hank was real frustrated at first because Hank thought the dosage was too much. Chip was afraid he’d stop taking it altogether. Everybody knew that Hank would rather die than not be able to play the way he could play or not play at all.”

The New York Times, also citing a physician it did not identify, reported today that Gathers’ condition was diagnosed as a potentially fatal heart disease called cardiomyopathy, which features a thickening of heart muscles.

Arrhythmia is a condition in which the heartbeat is irregular and is often a symptom resulting from cardiomyopathy.

After Gathers returned to the team Dec. 30, team officials began carrying a defibrillator at all times, said information director Zepel.

Meanwhile, the basketball team faces a decision on whether to compete in the NCAA tournament.