Remembering a symbol of hope from North Philly

By B.G. Kelley

As March Madness is poised to begin, I am thinking of March 4, 1990, when the rainbow over a crime-, drug-, and poverty-ridden part of North Philadelphia disappeared.

Hank Gathers was that rainbow. He wasn't into gangs or drugs. He had a colorful, infectious personality that resonated with many friends who were more than willing to listen when he urged them to get their education so they could get out of the neighborhood and get a good job. Indeed, he was the Pied Piper that many in the Raymond Rosen Projects promised to follow.

Hank was an All-American player at Loyola Marymount of California 25 years ago. Six minutes into a game against the University of Portland that early March day, Hank roared down the court on a fast break, took a pretty pass, and hammered home a monster slam dunk in his signature lefty style.

Running back on defense, he suddenly staggered and collapsed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and died there.

Hank had been diagnosed earlier in the season with an irregular heartbeat and had been taking Inderal to keep it in check.

When he died, Hank was several months shy of signing a multimillion-dollar NBA contract.

Hank had long harbored a dream, one that he told his friends about over and over, starting when they were 12-year-olds hanging out on the steps of St. Elizabeth Church in their neighborhood: "I'm going to the pros, going to the Big Game."

No one worked harder than Hank to fulfill that dream.

As a youngster, he practiced basketball with a missionary's zeal, sometimes 10 hours a day at the tiny St. E's gym, until Father Dave Hagan, who ran the gym program and mentored Hank to manhood, turned the lights off and locked up for the night.

When he noticed that Hagan was about to close up, Hank would hide in the gym. The rest of his friends would leave, then gather around the corner. As soon as Hagan was out the door and up the street, Hank would turn on the lights, open the doors, and yell to his friends, "C'mon, we ain't done running." When he was finally done for the evening, Hank would dribble the basketball all the way to his home a couple blocks away.

To no one's surprise, Hank's skills powered the 1985 Dobbins Vocational team to a Public League championship. That team, which included Bo Kimble and Doug Overton, is considered by many b-ball aficionados to be among the greatest in Philadelphia history.

At Loyola Marymount, Hank become one of only two players in the history of college basketball to lead the country in both scoring and rebounding in the same year. When he had the ball in his hands, he was known as "Hank the Bank."

Two days after his death, a memorial service was held at the Loyola fieldhouse. More than 7,000 people showed up. And on March 12, his funeral at Philadelphia's Emmanuel Institutional Baptist Church drew more than 3,000 mourners.

At the gravesite, Hank's closest friend, Darrell Gates, whom Hank had helped to get out of the neighborhood, placed a photo on the coffin. It was a shot of the two close friends together. Then Darrell spoke for many that day - and for all time - when he whispered, "Take my love with you, Hank."