Tom Gola

Tom Gola ( born January 13, 1933, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, † January 26, 2014 in Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania ) was an American professional basketball player.

Career

Gola played from 1952 to 1955 successfully for La Salle University. In 1952 the National Invitation Tournament the team win. 1954 followed the NCAA Championship. As the first player in the history of college basketball was able to achieve it both over 2,000 points as well to get 2,000 rebounds. From 1953 to 1955, he was elected to the NCAA All-American First Team.

After his college years he volunteered to join the NBA Draft 1955. There, the Philadelphia Warriors Tom Gola selected as a territorial pick. He could already establish in his rookie season on the team and came to 10.8 points, 5.9 assists and 9.1 rebounds per game. In the playoffs, his values ​​continued to improve and he had his share of the title of the Warriors. This could not be repeated in the following years, but the individual statistics of Gola improved again. In 1958 he was elected to the All- NBA Second Team. From 1960, he was elected for five consecutive years in the All-Star team.

On 5 December 1962 he was transferred to the New York Knicks of the now based in San Francisco franchise in exchange for Willie Naulls and Kenny Sears. In New York its operating times and points haul of the year went back to year. With the Knicks, he never made it to the playoffs. After the 1965/66 season, Tom Gola ended his career.

1976 Tom Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. One opened in 1998 Basketball Hall of La Salle University named Tom Gola Arena.

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