The Artis Gilmore Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Friday, May 6th, 2005
You
spent two years at Gardner-Webb Junior College in Boiling Springs, North
Carolina. How did you end up there, and what did you do to prepare yourself to
play collegiate basketball on the Division I level?
I
ended up at Gardner-Webb simply because my grades were very poor. Soon after
signing with Gardner-Webb, I discovered that the school’s intent was to become a
four-year accredited institution – up until that time, Gardner-Webb was only a
two-year junior college. So had I stayed, my graduating class would have been
the first to complete a four-year program. For myself and others who were
interested in moving on, there was encouragement from the school and the
coaching staff for us to stay and finish our basketball careers in the program.
We all listened to what they had to say, but it ultimately wasn’t the best place
for myself and one of my very dear friends and teammates. We chose to move on,
and we decided that Jacksonville was the best location for us.
In two
years at Division I Jacksonville, you averaged an incredible 20 points and
20 rebounds per game. You also led the nation in rebounding as both a
junior and a senior. At what point did you think that you could succeed at
the professional level?
That
phase of confidence had started to build shortly after arriving at
Jacksonville. There was a gentleman by the name of Bones McKinney, who had
played basketball for the Boston Celtics, and Bones had stopped by the
university to work with me. He indicated that I had great potential and
that, more than likely, I could very easily make that transition to the
professional level. But not until we started having success at Jacksonville
during my junior season did I really focus on moving in that direction.
As a
senior, you led Jacksonville to a 27-2 record and a matchup with perennial
power UCLA in the NCAA Championship Game. Another player with ties to the
Celtics, Sidney Wicks, drew the unenviable task of guarding arguably the
best big man in the country. Please take me back to that championship
game. What stands out in your mind after all of these years?
We
played well, but I’m not so sure that we played our best basketball during
that particular game. It was disappointing because we had played so
impressively in the semifinal game, and we expected to do the same against
UCLA. There wasn’t a lot of tightness going into that battle. There wasn’t
an intimidation factor because of who they were – mighty UCLA. We
definitely didn’t look at them with awe, and we didn’t idolize them in any
way. We felt that we were ready to compete, and that we had a genuine
opportunity to win the national championship.
Sidney Wicks had an extraordinary game that particular day. There was always a question about some of the shots that we blocked – whether or not they were goaltending – but you have to give credit to Sidney and to the entire Bruins basketball team. Coach [John] Wooden had them ready to play, and he had devised a perfect game plan to counter our advantage underneath the basket.
Following
graduation, both the NBA and the fledgling ABA coveted your services. You
were selected by the Chicago Bulls (NBA) and the Kentucky Colonels (ABA),
and were faced with your first big decision as a professional basketball
player. What were some of the factors that led you to sign with the
Colonels?
I
had a very young attorney, and I had what I thought was a very good support
group in Jacksonville. They basically advised me that the ABA was a great
opportunity to do some things right away for my family, especially for my
mother and father. That was the prize for me, because they were certainly
very special people in my life. So when it came time to sign a contract, I
wanted to make sure that I could give something back to my parents. That
was always the overriding factor. We considered both offers very seriously,
but ultimately decided that signing with Kentucky would provide the quickest
route to achieving that goal.
