Coming Friday: How the media covered the Hank Gathers story 20 years ago

Above: A 4 1/2-minute clip of Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble appearing on NBC's "The Today" show with Bryant Gumbel in January, 1990.

In the 2 1/2 years it took Kyle Keiderling to compile "Heart Of A Lion: The Life, Death and Legacy of Hank Gathers" ($29.95, Morning Star Communications, 404 pages), dozens of interviews led to even more interviews from those who not just knew Hank Gathers, but had new pieces of information to tell about him.

Inevitably, Keiderling said, events of March 4, 1990 -- exactly 20 years ago today, and at the exact moment of this posting -- would lead the person he was talking into becoming choked up. Many cried. Again.

"I started with interviewing players who were close to him, and every time we got to that date, they'd break down," said Keiderling. "I got to a point where I wouldn't met them unless it was in a public place. I thought that would help them with their composure. It didn't. It was still very hard and difficult, and that speaks to Hank Gathers. He had such a profound and lasting effect on people. He was a kid who touched men's souls.

"Everyone I'd interview would inevitably lead me to another person. So this became not just a biography of an extraordinany young man unfortunately remembered for his death, but I found in the interviews that he led an extraordinary life, one that was complex with a nobility of purpose."

Keiderling, who's previous book, "The Bevo Francis Story," was also about a basketball player at a small-sized college who scored a lot of points, thought this one would be an easy seguay. But he struggled with the fact that he had never met Gathers. In the end, that may have proved to be a blessing, leading to a more objective piece.

We'll discuss how Keiderling brings the media's role in the Gathers' story alive again in his book during Friday's media column.

Also, on his radio show this morning carried on DirecTV 101, host Dan Patrick, who had Bo Kimble on as a guest, talked about the anniversary and how he was with Chris Berman on the "SportsCenter" set that night, trying to decide how to show the video that was provided of Gathers collapsing and dying. Consider the backlash NBC got three weeks ago for showing video on opening night of the Winter Olympics of the luger from Georgia crashing on the track.

"I remember showing that video, and it's alarming -- you're seeing a man dying," said Patrick. "And I don't remember any outrage (from viewers). There were no websites and blogs critical of what we were doing. And I wonder what would happen if we were showing that now because you are watching somebody dunk, come down, get up, fall down, and you see him on the floor, his eyes are fluttering, and then he dies. A lot has changed in 20 years in how we cover sports, what we're numb to, what we get upset about. For that story and that time and that team, it was one of those impactful moments."

On ESPN Classic today, they're replaying the 1990 LMU-Gonzaga contest from Feb. 19 (at 6 p.m.). Earlier, they replayed LMU-LaSalle from that season.

On ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" this afternoon, Michael Wilbon recalled covering LMU in the 1990 NCAA Tournament and admitted: "I've never in my life, and I'm including the Olympics here, rooted for a team, wanted a team to win more than I wanted Loyola Marymount to win in the aftermath of Hank's death. If you told me I could have stuck my foot out at press row and tripped an opposing player and helped Loyola Marymount, I would have done it. It was the most emotional I think I've been at a game, and people don't understand the gravity with which this took place."