Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all time, playing four years with the La Salle Explorers (1951 to 1955). Gola was a consensus first-team All-American for three consecutive years. He has held the record for the most total rebounds in NCAA history since 1955, and was the first college player to have over 2,000 points and 2,000 rebounds in a career. Gola was the Helms Foundations College Basketball Player of the Year in 1954, and the United Press Player of the Year in 1955, as well as being the highest vote recipient for the Associated Press' 1955 All-America Team. He was selected the most valuable player in the 1952 National Invitation Tournament and the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament.
Professionally, Gola spent his most productive seasons with the Philadelphia Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he averaged a double-double three consecutive seasons and was an NBA All-Star three consecutive seasons; as well as being named to the second-team All-NBA. He was also named an All-Star twice more while playing for the New York Knicks.
Gola led his high school team to the Philadelphia Catholic League championship; his college team to the National Invitation Tournament championship and the NCAA championship; and was on the 1956 Philadelphia Warriors championship team, all in the space of six years. He is one of only two players to win NIT, NCAA, and NBA championships.
Gola was also involved in politics. In 1966, he was elected to Pennsylvania's House of Representatives and was re-elected in 1968. Before finishing his second term, in 1969 Gola won election as the City Controller of Philadelphia. He was unsuccessful in his 1973 re-election effort for that office. In 1980, he was the Philadelphia chair of Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign, and in 1981 he was appointed as regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He lost in the 1983 Republican primary for Mayor of Philadelphia.
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, part of the Philadelphia Catholic League, where he was second-team All-Catholic League in 1949, and first-team in 1950 and 1951. He led the Explorers to a Philadelphia Catholic League Championship in 1950. He also won the Markward Award as the Catholic League's top player (future basketball Hall of Fame coach John Chaney won the Philadelphia Public League Award the same year).
He entered La Salle University in 1951, one year after another Philadelphia basketball Hall of Famer, and future Gola teammate on the Philadelphia Warriors, Paul Arizin, graduated from Villanova. Arizin, ironically, had been cut from the La Salle high school team.
Gola was one of the most talented collegiate athletes in Philadelphia sports history, and NCAA history. He came to national attention while playing for his hometown La Salle University Explorers men's basketball team (1951 to 1955). Among other accolades, he is among the less than 20 players in college basketball history who have been selected three consecutive years as consensus first-team All-Americans. When Gola received the Helms Foundation Player of the Year Award in 1954, it was written that Gola was "regarded by many basketball experts as the finest all-around player ever developed in the college ranks".
Gola has been reported at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (92.98 kg) or 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 207 lb (93.89 kg) as a college player. He played center and forward at La Salle, and could dribble, pass, and bring the ball up the court like a guard. Offensively, he had facility with a wide range of shot types. As a scorer, Gola averaged over 20 points per game in four college seasons; and is the NCAA's all-time leading rebounder. He would typically defend the opposing team's best offensive player, and could play all five positions defensively. His nickname was "Mr. All-Around".
Gola was recruited for college by the likes of Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, North Carolina State coach Everett Case, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but he chose La Salle. Gola starred as a college freshman (1951–52), leading La Salle with 17.4 points and 17.1 rebounds per game averages. He led La Salle to the 1952 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship, played in Madison Square Garden. La Salle was considered the underdog in its NIT games, as it was not nationally ranked going into the tournament and its two leading players were freshmen. That La Salle team was known as the "Fuzz Kids".
Gola had 30 points in La Salle's upset of Seton Hall in the tournament's first round. Gola then had a low-scoring game against a St. John's team that was focused on stopping him, but La Salle won because St. John's committed 42 personal fouls during the game. La Salle upset Duquesne in a similar manner where the defense collapsed on Gola holding him to 10 points, but leaving other players open to score. Gola led La Salle with 22 points in winning the championship game over Dayton, 75–64. Gola was selected the co-Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NIT tournament, along with teammate Norm Grekin.
After the end of the NCAA season, in April 1952 Gola was selected as the first college alternate on the 1952 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. Grekin was also named as an college alternate.
As a sophomore (1952–53), Gola led the Explorers with 18.5 points and 15.5 rebounds per game. He was a consensus first-team All American. La Salle was 23–5 that season, beginning the season ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press (AP) and ending ranked No. 6. La Salle lost to St. John's in the first game of the 1953 NIT Tournament, 75–74, at Madison Square Garden. Gola went into the game with an injured ankle and played only 3½ minutes in the first half. Gola played full out in the second half. He scored 17 points in the game in helping La Salle come back from a 13-point deficit to tie the game at 74–74 with less than one minute to play; before losing by one point.
Gola had an extraordinary junior season. He averaged a double-double of over 20 points and 20 rebounds per game (23 points per game and 21.7 rebounds per game). He led the NCAA in total rebounds (652). The 652 total rebounds set a new collegiate record. He was selected to the Helms Foundation All-America Team and named the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year. The AP, United Press, Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), and International News Service (INS) also selected Gola as a first-team All-American. He was a consensus first-team All-American for the second consecutive season.
The Explorers were 26–4 in Gola's junior season. He led them to the NCAA University Division basketball championship in 1954. La Salle won the first game of the 1954 NCAA tournament against Fordham, 76–74, in overtime; with Gola scoring 28 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. La Salle then defeated North Carolina State at the Palestra in Philadelphia, 88–81. Gola had 26 points, 26 rebounds, and six assists. La Salle played Navy the next night, winning 64–48. Gola had 22 points, 24 rebounds, and four assists. La Salle met Penn State in the Final Four, winning 69–54. Gola had 19 points and 17 rebounds.
Gola had 19 points and 19 rebounds in the 1954 NCAA title game against Bradley, with La Salle winning that national championship game, 92–76. This was the first NCAA championship game to be nationally televised. Gola was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player and was the only unanimous choice for the All-Tournament Team. Gola averaged 22.8 points per game in the tournament and over 20 rebounds per game. In addition to his scoring, the Associated Press praised Gola's "needle–threading passes, rebounding and quarter-backing".