Tom Gola

Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician.

He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all-time.

Thomas Joseph Gola was born on January 13, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the third of seven children born to Ike and Helen Gola.

Gola's father was a Philadelphia policeman of Polish descent who had changed the family's surname from "Galinsky".

Gola was praised as a great all-around player as a high school student at La Salle College High School, where he led the Explorers to a Philadelphia Catholic League Championship.

He entered La Salle a year after another Philadelphia basketball Hall of Famer, Paul Arizin, graduated from Villanova.

Gola was one of the most talented collegiate athletes in Philadelphia sports history.

He came to national attention while playing for his hometown La Salle University Explorers men's basketball team.

Gola starred as a college freshman and led La Salle to the 1952 NIT championship.

Gola paced the Explorers to the NCAA basketball championship in 1954 and was named Tournament MVP.

That same season he was selected as National Player of the Year.

As a senior, Gola helped La Salle finish as the runner-up in the 1955 NCAA Tournament.

At 6'6" (198 cm), Gola was clearly a forward who could shoot/score, rebound and defend, but he also had the ballhandling (dribbling, passing) skills of a guard, and with his shooting range and All-Pro defensive skills, could play just as well in the backcourt.

He averaged 20.9 points and 19.0 rebounds during 115 games and remains the NCAA All time rebounding leader with 2,201 career rebounds.

Gola was married to Caroline Norris in June 1955, and they had one son, Thomas Christopher.

He teamed with All-Pros Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston to lead the Warriors to an NBA championship in 1956.

He gained praise for concentrating on defense, passing and rebounding and allowing the other two to be the chief scorers during these years.

In 1959, Johnston temporarily retired due to a knee injury and the Warriors added seven-foot superstar Wilt Chamberlain.

During the 1959–60 season, Gola became the first Warrior to have three straight games with a triple-double (the only other being Draymond Green, 2016).

Again sacrificing himself for his team, Gola helped the Warriors consistently reach the NBA Playoffs, but they could not beat the star-studded Boston Celtics in the NBA Eastern Division during his seasons in the early 1960s even with Chamberlain.

On January 10, 1960, Gola recorded 18 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists in a 116–103 win over the New York Knicks.

He was inducted into the La Salle Hall of Athletes in 1961 and the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1986.

Gola played with the New York Knicks from 1962 to 1966.

In 1968, Gola returned to his alma mater as head coach, leading the Explorers to a 37–13 record during his two-year stay.

He was named Coach of the Year by Philadelphia and New York journalists.

He led the Explorers to a 23–1 record during the 1968–69 season, but La Salle had been barred from the NCAA Tournament before the season because an alumnus had offered some players "no-show" jobs.

In 1968, Gola was elected to the Pennsylvania State House as a Republican, representing the Northeast Philadelphia-based 170th District.

A change to the State Constitution made earlier that year had reorganized House seats into legislative districts, replacing the old system of allotting seats on an at-large, county-wide basis.

This made Gola the first person to represent the newly created district.

Ultimately, Gola would not finish-out his first term in the House, opting instead to seek the office of Philadelphia City Controller in 1969.

He scored an 80,000 vote victory over Democrat Charles Peruto in the general election, and took office the following January.

Gola was defeated, however, in his bid for a second term in 1973 by Democrat William Klenk.

His defeat was part of a broader setback for Republicans in the city that year, as Arlen Specter lost his bid for a third term as District Attorney.

Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976.

He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 26, 1976.

In 1977, Tom Gola was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.

Gola was listed on "ESPN's Countdown to the Greatest" College basketball players as #17.

After a phenomenal college career, Gola turned pro with the Philadelphia Warriors as a territorial draft pick.

Gola made his final attempt at elected office in 1983, when he sought the office of Mayor.

He came in last in the three-man Republican primary, behind Congressman Charlie Dougherty and the winner, John Egan, who went on to lose the fall general election to Wilson Goode.