La Salle unveils Gola sculpture

CAROLINE GOLA'S wonderfully expressive face told two stories yesterday afternoon when a sculpture of her husband was unveiled at La Salle University. She was incredibly proud of what Tom Gola accomplished, what he meant to his school and his city and how many people from his past were at Hayman Center/Tom Gola Arena to honor him. She also felt the weight of knowing that today is the 1-year anniversary of the legend's death.

"It's just hard right now," she said after the ceremony, her feelings impossible to hide.

Larry Cannon, one of the stars of the great 1968-69 La Salle team, came up from Florida and spoke eloquently about his coach on that team. Lionel Simmons, the third-leading scorer in college basketball history, the 1990 player of the year and a man who considered Gola a mentor in college and still does, was there. So was Temple coach Fran Dunphy, who came off the La Salle bench in '68-'69 and was one of the stars the next season, Gola's second and last as the head coach.

St. Joseph's Prep coach Speedy Morris, who holds the record for wins as La Salle coach and credits Gola with helping him get the job in 1986, was there. So was the present La Salle coach, John Giannini, who was as eloquent as Cannon in explaining what Gola meant to the university and the city.

Today's La Salle men's and women's teams were there to hear about the man whose name is on the arena in which they play. It was a who's who of Philadelphia basketball crowded into a first-floor corridor in the Hayman Center Hall of Athletes to honor the man who graduated from La Salle almost 60 years ago.

When sculptor Chad Fisher and Caroline took down the covering, there was a sculpted Tom Gola, left foot on the pedestal, right foot in the air, the ball in his right hand, playing basketball.

"Today we remember a person who touched our hearts and who gave us pride in being Philadelphians and in being Lasallians," said Brother Joe Grabenstein, La Salle archivist and a close friend of the Golas, in blessing the statue. "What a life's journey was Tom Gola's."

Caroline wanted a player from the 1968-69 team, which included the incredible Kenny Durrett, Bernie Williams and Roland "Fatty" Taylor, to speak about her husband. She chose Cannon.

"I just see this as a very significant moment," Cannon said before he spoke formally. "Everybody had great affection for Tom. He was not only a coach, but a friend, a father figure. What took place with that team simply could not have happened if it weren't for Tom being there. That talented team was just waiting for someone like Tom to come along."

When he was a little kid, Dunphy remembers following Gola with the Warriors.

"He was the most invincible guy that I ever met," Dunphy said. "He was so strong and so together . . . To be on that team . . . I'm a blessed guy and this was part of that blessing."

Gola was a very busy man in 1968 between business and a budding political career. He really didn't have time to coach, but his school needed him. That team needed him.

"We could just go play basketball and these guys knew how to play," Dunphy said.

Almost any city hoops historian will tell you that 23-1 team was the best in Big 5 history. That they never got a chance to show how great in the NCAA Tournament because of a prior issue that resulted in NCAA probation always will be one of those sporting what-ifs.

There were never any what-ifs about Tom Gola, NIT champion in 1952, NCAA champion in 1954, NCAA runner-up in 1955, NBA champion, Hall of Famer, La Salle legend, Philadelphia icon.

Gola was 6-6, could play any position on the floor and did exactly that, setting a record for NCAA rebounds that never will be approached, running the point, hitting midrange jump shots, defending the other team's best player, playing like a big man or a little man, depending on what was necessary at that moment in time.

Nobody is ever going to score more points in the Big 5 than Simmons. And nobody ever played every aspect of the game better than the L-Train, a man who got to know Gola early in his La Salle career and stayed close for the rest of his life.

"It's a great honor for a great man who has done a lot not only for the city but for La Salle," Simmons said. "He meant a lot to a lot of people . . . He was always there for me. He's always been in my corner. It's never been a question of why. I'm just grateful to have known him and have him be part of my life."

Basketball, Giannini said when he spoke, "exposes character."

And, if there was one common theme about Tom Gola's life, it was his character. Nobody ever questioned it because there was never any question about it.

Giannini brought up what he called a Native American saying.

"Wherever your name is still spoken, your spirit will live," Giannini said. "How beautiful with this sculpture, with this arena, the Gola name and spirit will perpetually be a part of La Salle."

Cannon spoke for 8 1/2 minutes. He could still be speaking and nobody there would have minded. He was emotional. His words were heartfelt. The moment mattered to him and he captured it.

"Tom Gola was basketball royalty," Cannon said. "His accomplishments are such that they should not be forgotten."

Gola, Cannon said, had no plans to coach.

"Tom knew that the school needed him and Tom responded," Cannon said.

Of course he responded. That was Tom Gola. That was always Tom Gola.