Hoping to Score

Four weeks since the death of Loyola Marymount basketball star Hank Gathers, one week since the end of his team’s astonishing drive toward NCAA glory, the race for dramatic rights is on a fast break.

Loyola spokeswoman Joan Gaulene says she received her first rights inquiry call “the day after the memorial service, which was really just too soon. . . . No, I don’t remember who it was.” Athletic department spokesman Barry Zepel says that several more inquiries have since come through his office, including “a producer, a screenwriter, someone who claimed to represent a group. . . .

“Nothing’s happened, which is not to say it won’t. I’m sure there are plenty of opportunists and profiteers out there who’d like to make the most of this . . . but Hank hasn’t even been dead a month yet. His mom is certainly not in any condition to start negotiating.”

The Rev. Dave Hagan, the Philadelphia priest who is fielding such inquiries for the Gathers family, confirms that no deals have been made.

SILENT PICTURES: Maratta’s cartoon makes a special appearance on the Letters Page today.