Gola, Thomas J.
Basketball
b. Jan. 13, 1933, Philadelphia, PA
A multi-talented player, Gola starred at LaSalle High School in Philadelphia and went on to nearby LaSalle University. In his freshman year, 1950-51, LaSalle won the National Invitation Tournament and Gola shared the tournament's most valuable player award with teammate Norm Grekin.
A consensus All-American the next three seasons, Gola was named tournament MVP when LaSalle won the 1954 NCAA championship. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Gola played all three positions at LaSalle, averaging 20.9 points and 18.7 rebounds a game during his four years as a starter. He averaged 24.1 points per game as a senior.
His college coach, Ken Loeffler, nicknamed Gola "Mr. All Around" and once said of him, "I have never seen one player control a game by himself as well as Gola does."
In 1955, Gola joined the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA and averaged 10.8 points a game as the Warriors won the league championship. He entered military service after the season, returning to the Warriors in 1957. Wilt Chamberlain did most of the team's scoring and Gola was used mainly as a play-making guard.
The Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962 and Gola was traded to the New York Knicks in mid-season. He finished his playing career with the Knicks in 1965-66. In 698 professional games, Gola scored 7,871 points, got 5,617 rebounds, and had 2,962 assists. He averaged 11.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game.
Gola coached LaSalle to a 23-1 record in 1968-69, when the team was ranked second in the nation, and he had a 14-12 record in his second and final season. He later served in the Pennsylvania State Legislature and as comptroller of the city of Philadelphia.