Hall of Famer Tom Gola dies at 81

Philadelphian icon Tom Gola, who led La Salle to the 1954 NCAA title, holds the Division I record for career rebounds, helped the Philadelphia Warriors win the 1956 NBA championship, and was named as a Hall of Fame player, died Sunday at the age of 81. Gola was seriously injured in 2003 when he fell and hit his head on a curb and rested in a coma for several day. He died at St. Joseph’s Manor in Meadowbrook.

Gola averaged 11.3 points and 8 rebounds in his 10 NBA seasons. He and former George Washington player Joe Holup are the only players in NCAA Division I history to top 2,000 in both points and rebounds.  Gola later returned to La Salle as a coach, where the arena is names after him. He also was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1966 and was regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Reagan administration, during the early 1980s.