On March 4, 1990, phenom Hank Gathers died in the middle of a game
He was one of the top prospects of the late 1980s. He became the second player in history to lead the NCAA in points and rebounds and played for one of the most exciting teams in the entire United States.
But life from Hank Gathers ended abruptly on March 4, 1990, depriving the world of basketball, as s Len Bias four years earliera huge talent.
The best player in the country?
Born on February 11, 1967, Eric “Hank” Gathers plays for the Dobbins Technical High School team in Philadelphia with his friend Bo Kimble. Together they won the title in 1985 and headed to the University of South Carolina. They spent a season there before transferring together again to Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles.
Hank Gathers had an absolutely phenomenal season in 1988/89. He leads the NCAA in scoring with an average of 32.7 points, as well as in rebounding with 13.7 shots per game. He has established himself as one of the best college players in the country, if not the best. At the time, he became only the second player in history to accomplish the feat of leading scorer and rebounder in the championship, following Xavier McDaniel in 1985. In 1995, Kurt Thomas would become the third and final player to accomplish this feat.
The Gathers-Kimble duo plays on a team coached by run-and-gun champion Paul Weshed, the basketball was played at a very high pace with plenty of shots from the front line. This type of game will allow Loyola Marymount to post historical averages in terms of points scored. The team’s superstar, Hank Gathers, planned to enter the draft at the end of the season, but fate would decide otherwise.
First warning
On December 9, 1989, at Santa Barbara, he sank free throws six minutes into the second half. He feels his heart pounding as he shoots his first free throw, then collapses after missing his second. The medical staff arrives very quickly and after a few seconds he gets up and walks a little.
A little later, he was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia. This is terrible news for him, who is aiming for the NBA. Hank Gathers is then treated with beta-blockers, but he reverses the treatment. It affects his game, he can no longer play without getting tired quickly and he no longer sleeps. The player then asks for the dosage to be reduced, but the staff refuses and he himself decides to slow down the treatment and miss certain tests.
The terrible March 4, 1990
On Sunday, March 4, 1990, LMU played Portland in the West Coast Conference quarterfinals. While walking across the field following the alley, Hank Gathers falls to the ground and begins to have convulsions. Everyone is busy, but he does not understand what is happening around him. The medical staff then used a defibrillator specially bought for him, but his pulse stopped beating.
The ambulance arrived at 17:21, just seven minutes after the tragedy, thirteen minutes later it went to the hospital and finally arrived at 17:38. Doctors tried everything for more than an hour, but in vain: Eric “Hank” Gathers died at the age of 23.
The autopsy will bring the following verdict: death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or disease of the heart muscle.
Symbolic gifts
Even if the circumstances are different, this death once again throws basketball America into disarray four years later episode of Len Bias, missing two days after being drawn by Boston.
The West Coast Conference Tournament is suspended immediately, LMU is automatically registered for the NCAA Tournament. During this tournament, his lifelong teammate Bo Kimble decided to shoot his first free throws in every game with his left hand as a tribute to his friend. Indeed, even though Hank Gathers was right-handed, he sometimes shot free throws with his left hand because he was so clumsy with his right hand… Bo Kimble kept this ritual throughout his career, even in the NBA.
In 1992, his life was portrayed on screen in a television movie, and on January 29, 2005, the entire Loyola 89/90 team was inducted into the university hall of fame during halftime of the game.
In March 2020, on the 30th anniversary of his death, Loyola Marymount University erected a statue of him, and university players notably wore the jersey from the 1989/90 season, Hank Gathers’ last.
2026-03-04 13:27:00
