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Tom Gola honored with statue

La Salle honored the late Tom Gola with a statue in the university's Hayman Center.

La Salle's interim president, Dr. James Gallagher, stood in front of a crowded lobby in the university's Hayman Center wearing a sport coat and gold tie. He spoke to a crowd that included Dave Montgomery, Lionel Simmons, Fran Dunphy and Sonny Hill about Tom Gola and his ever-present legacy at the university.

Just before he handed over the microphone to unveil the Gola statue that rested to his right, he noted his attire. The tie that he wore was once Tom Gola's.

"I wish my dad were alive," Gallagher said. "He would tap me on the shoulder and say 'Jimmy, you finally made it.'"

Gola's reputation as a basketball player is still talked about and revered. He holds the NCAA all-time record for rebounds with 2,201, aside from helping La Salle win its only national championship in 1955.

"It is a great memorial for Tom, very well-deserved," said Tom's widow, Caroline. "I'm very proud of him."

When Gola passed away on Jan. 26 of last year, Chad Fisher had the idea to sculpt something of "Mr. Everything," as he was known. Fisher called the La Salle athletic department offering his services for the project.

"I grew up in the area," Fisher said. "... When Tom Gola passed, we reached out to La Salle to see if they were doing anything. I had the opportunity to donate part of it."

The statue stands about three feet tall, but sits on a three-foot pedestal. There was some internal debate as to how to honor Gola before the final idea was decided on.

"They were thinking of doing a portrait, or maybe doing something smaller, then something larger," Fisher said. "This ended up being a nice medium for all of that."

The unveiling brought out some of La Salle's and Philadelphia's biggest sports names. Two men who are still prominent in the Philly basketball scene had nothing but good things to say about La Salle honoring Gola.

"It's a great honor," former Explorers great Lionel Simmons said. "La Salle has always honored Tom, has always recognized Tom as being one of the greatest and an ambassador to the school. They did a great job of making this happen."

"For me as a grad, and somebody who had the distinct honor of playing for Tom Gola, it is so important," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "I love La Salle and what it did for me both as a student-athlete and a coach. This symbolizes how important he was for all of those guys that played here. Not only the guys who played for him, but those who came after him, as well."

The statue will sit in the lobby of the Hayman Center, which holds Tom Gola Arena, where the Explorers play their home games. Even though there will now be something people can see to remind them of La Salle's greatest player, it is who Gola was that will carry his legacy.

"This is something that you can physically touch, and I appreciate that, but the memory of Tom Gola will be forever embedded in my mind," Dunphy said. "I'm appreciative of it, but I have thought about him as a reverent figure for all of my life."