The Clarion
Hank Gathers* legacy lives
March 26, 1990 Page 11
Troy Smith
Troy lifts
to success
by Angela Williams
Clarion Reporter
On March 10 and 11 Brevard's
Allen Troy Smith competed in the
Professional Power Lifting Champion
ships in High Point, North Carolina.
Troy, who is the supervisor in the
weight room, placed third out of 40 men
in the 198 pound class.
In preperation for the competition,
he trained six days a week, from five to
six hours a day. During his training,
which consisted of squats at 615
pounds, bench press at 405 pounds and
the dead lift at 600 pounds, his weight
dropped from 220 pounds to 198
pounds.
When asked what his diet consisted
of he said, "I ate only a can of tuna,
over-boiled rice and drank spring water
every day." Troy has won many power
lifting competitions. He won the
Southern U.S. Championship, Olympic
State Gold Medal Championships,
Palmetto State Championships and the
Polk County Powerlifting Champion
ship.
He missed going to the Power
Lifting Nationals in California last year
because of a knee injury from doing
squats in running shoes. Steroids are a
part of some powerlifters' careers, but
Troy says there is no room for them in
his life. Set high goals and believe in
yourself is the advice Troy gives to
students. He says he dedicated this
competition to Kim White and her
familv
by Scott Holmes
Clarion Sports Editor
"Alley-opp to Gathers! Oh My!
What a slam!"
Now, I could tell you all the facts
and little details of the Hank Gathers
story, but this is just a comentary on an
incredible, shocking tragedy, and
besides, that's what the big papers are
for.
For me, this is the second
athlete/idol I've lost. Len Bias was the
first. I say Tve lost" because it seems
that part of me has gone with them. The
realizations of what I could not do and
what 1 had always wanted to do were
blown away, first with Bias and now
with Gathers. They had a presence about
them, graceful yet powerful, stylish but
rough. Both players had that infectious
smile, the one that you couldn't help
but notice.
When I was living in the
Philadelphia area a few years abck, 1 had
heard about Gathers and a few of his
friends. Bo Kimble, who played with
Gathers all through high school and
college, Lionel Simmons, and Doug
Overton.
Simmons and Overton play for
LaSalle. All three - Gathers, Kimble
and Simmons made the All-American
team this year. Of course, you never
really realize who these players are until
they're in college, as 1 did, but yet 1
remember hearing about them on TV,
and reading about them in the papers,
still never realizing what he future had
in store for them. If you really think
about it, you never fully realize
someone for what they are, a regular
ol human being, or a superstar
basketball player, until they're gone.
Hank Gathers was 23 when he died.
He was a senior at Loyola-Marymount
University and he was the father of a 6-
year-old. Gathers worked extremeley
hard to get where he was. He kept his
grades up and practiced basketball
constantly, especially rebounding..
He used to tell his teammates that
he was sorry, but that every rebound
was his. He did just that. His junior
year inb college, he became the second
player in NCAA history to lead the
country in scoring AND rebounding.
Xavier McDaniel was the first. But
Hank was determined and he did it
Hank Gathers didn't deserve to die.
He had a heart condiddon and he took
care of it Len Bias was asking for his
death.He was, and is, one of my all-time
favorite players, but he was asking for
it. This isn't a Just Say Not to Drugs
Campaign. That's up to you. Tnis is
just the plain and simple truth. Gathers
worked on his rehi>*'iU(ation. He saw
his doctors frequenuy and took his
medication. He worked out constantly
and stayed in excellent shape, but the
man upstairs works in mysterious ways
and has done it once again.
"He always seemed to be smiling,"
said teammates and coaches. "I'm the
suongest man alive. No one can stop
me!" said Gathers to Kimble. "That
was a favorite phrase of his," said
Kimble. It seemed to be too
prophetically eerie to believe. It just
didn't seem possible. How could a man
who was so strong, so powerful, so
physically fit just be extinguished and
crushed so quickly. If you saw the news
reports on the night of his death, you
saw the solid, muscular stature of Hank
Gathers waste helplessly away. He
ended his life just like the way he played
basketball, fighting until the end. His
legs kicked and pounded, his fists
clenching, and he even managed to sit
up one last time until he could no
longer hoM on.
Yet, with all the kicking and
straining, you could see on his face the
helpless expression of death. He looked
weak and depleted, deprived of the great
energy he used to thrive on. There was
no power and desire left in his eyes.
Just panic and chaos, something never
seen on Hank's face before. There was
no smile on his face.
The most heart-wrenching scenc of
this tragic play was back in Philadelphia
when Lionel Simmons heard the
shocking news. It was during the first
half of La Salle's tournament game.
Someone informed Simmons of the
news and Simmons broke down on his
knees and cried on the court.
Hank Gathers worked hard at
everthing he did, especially on
basketball. He called the basketball
court "his home". "This is where I
live." And that is where he died.
According to Bo Kimble, his best
friend, "This is where Hank would have
wanted to leave us." Gathers left a
legacy of hope and inspiration to sports
fans everywhere. Kimble also added, "If
you knew Hank at all, you would ktraw
that he ended it all the way he wanted
U), with a huge slam."
P.S. Chuck, the dream lives on!
9
I
Ofm
Katie Trexler has again been
named to the All-Region X
women's basketball team.
EC's intramural men's basketball champs and friends pose for a
group shot after the finals: left to right, Marc Garren, Kenny
Gallagher, T.J. King, BooBoo Lucas, John Kennedy (on basket),
Mark Robbins, Referee Marcus Allen (down front), Scott Jenkins,
Nick Powers (friend) and Coach Nate Fearrington.