Gathers Collapses, Then Dies : Loyola Star, 23, Is Taken Off Court During a Game

In a frightening scene played out before much of his family, Loyola Marymount University basketball star Hank Gathers collapsed in a game at Loyola Sunday and died shortly thereafter at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital.

Gathers, 23, had brought the crowd to its feet with a powerful dunk moments before when he started upcourt, then fell unconscious near midcourt.

Almost immediately Gathers sat up, then fell back to the floor and appeared to suffer convulsions. He was taken from the court on a stretcher and team physician Benjamin Schaeffer began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Schaeffer was joined moments later by a paramedic crew from the L.A. Fire Dept.

At times, Gathers appeared to be aware of what was happening, but he lapsed back into unconsciousness each time. Paramedics worked on him for about 15 minutes before Gathers was taken to Daniel Freeman, where CPR was continued for more than an hour.

Gathers was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. PST. A few teammates stood outside the emergency room, still in uniform, and some assistant coaches sobbed quietly. Relatives came out moments later and a distraught aunt, Carole Livingston, called the Gathers family in Philadelphia.

Doctors who attended Gathers in the emergency room could not give an immediate cause of death. An autopsy will be performed this week.

Dr. Mason Weiss, the cardiologist at Daniel Freeman, said Gathers suffered “a syncopal episode,” during which a sudden decrease in blood pressure cuts the blood flow to the brain.

Weiss said that from the time resuscitation was started, Gathers was never “noted to be in a (heart) rhythm compatible with life. Nor from the time he arrived (at the hospital) was there any rhythm compatible with life.”

The incident occurred early in the first half of the West Coast Conference tournament game against the University of Portland. The tournament was canceled later Sunday night.

Gathers, a 6-foot-7 senior, led the nation in scoring and rebounding as a junior and described himself as “the strongest man in America.” He was a consensus preseason All-American and rated a probable first-round NBA draft choice by scouts.

He fainted Dec. 9 during a game against UC Santa Barbara and underwent medical tests for the next three weeks. In that incident Gathers was only unconscious for a moment, and left the court under his own power. Team doctors detected a slight arrhythmia--an erratic heartbeat--that was being treated with medication.

Gathers returned to the lineup on Dec. 30 and hadn’t missed a game since. He appeared lethargic for several weeks and blamed the medication. He talked doctors into reducing his dosage and had returned to all-conference form in the last month. Last week he told The Times his medication was “almost down to nothing.”

On Friday, Coach Paul Westhead had noted Gathers “is not quite the Hank of a year ago, but he’s almost there.”

Loyola Athletic Director Brian Quinn, in a statement at the hospital, said Gathers “had a previous syncopal episode in December . . . which was treated medically and he was released to participate in all athletic events.”

Family members, teammates and coaches remained secluded and declined to comment Sunday. In a prepared statement, Westhead said, “This is the hardest thing I’ve experienced. To be so close to a player and see him fall and for it to be over, I feel a deep hurt for his family.”

Westhead will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. today.

Later, a shaken Quinn said: “It’s a tremendous loss. He was an outstanding young man as an athlete and as a human being. We’re all better people for having the opportunity to know him and be his friend. We will be praying. We hope you will too.”

Gathers was a high school star at Dobbins Tech in Philadelphia, where he and Bo Kimble led the school to two city titles in three years. They were recruited to USC by Stan Morrison. They saw considerable playing time as freshmen.

But when Morrison was fired after the season, Gathers, Kimble and another freshman teammate, Tom Lewis, found themselves at odds with new Coach George Raveling, who canceled their scholarships.

Lewis, who had played at Santa Ana Mater Dei, ended up at Pepperdine, Gathers and Kimble transfered to Loyola, where another Philadelphian, Westhead, was coach.

Behind Gathers and Kimble, Westhead’s fast break offense produced the highest-scoring teams in collegiate history. Gathers thrived in the system, leading the nation in both scoring and rebounding last season, and ranking among the leaders in both this year. Kimble leads the nation in scoring this season; Gathers ranks 11th in Division I career scoring.

Gathers was the emotional leader of the team as well as a standout player. Sunday’s game against Portland was a semifinal of the West Coast Conference Tournament. Loyola won the last two tournament titles, with Gathers earning most valuable player honors each year.

He started fast Sunday and already had eight points when he took a long alley-oop pass and made a spectacular dunk over a Portland defender. He enthusiastically high-fived a teammate, then started back on defense when he collapsed.

His mother, Lucille Gathers, a younger brother, his aunt and his girlfriend were among those who came out of the stands and watched as Gathers was treated.