The Kevin Gamble Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, May 9th, 2005
You were born on November 13th, 1965 in Springfield, Illinois. Take me back
in time – what was your childhood like, and what sports did you like to
play?
Basketball
and baseball were the two main sports that I liked to play. I liked to
watch football, but it wasn’t one of the sports that I really competed in.
And as I got older, I focused more and more on basketball.
You have described yourself as the 'observer type', and your parents always
encouraged you to build on your inner-resolve. How did these two things
help make you a better basketball player?
I
don’t know if it made me a better basketball player – it’s really hard to
say. That’s just my personality, and that’s just what type of person I am.
I’m laid-back and observant, so I guess I was able to learn quite a bit by
observing other players. That might have had something to do with it. It
was also the hard work that I put in from a very early age, as a child
coming up and playing basketball everyday. And that might have had more to
do with it than anything.
You played high school basketball at Springfield’s Lanphier High, leading
the Lions to a state championship in 1983. Please take me back to that
championship season. What stands out in your mind after all of these years?
Just
the whole experience. We knew we were going to have a pretty good ball club
when we were seniors in high school, because the majority of us had been
together since eighth or ninth grade. It was just a very good nucleus of
players that came from different grade schools and middle schools, so we
knew we were going to have a special team that last year. We thought that,
with our talent and a little luck, we might be able to win a state
championship. So, that was something that was always in the back of our
minds. And we were fortunate enough to win it. We had guys at every
position, from point guard all the way to center – everybody knew their
roles and everybody played their roles. It was truly a team, and we were
able to walk away with a state championship.
Following
high school, you attended Lincoln Junior College for two seasons. Head
coach Alan Pickering was very important to you in many ways. He stressed
the value of defense, and also the value of a college education. Please
tell me a little about Coach Pickering, and the effect that he had on you as
a person and as a basketball player.
The
thing that stands out in my mind about Coach Pick is that he was probably my
first adult role model in my transition from adolescence to a young man. He
was that person that took me to the next step in my life. He molded me, and
showed me what I had to do to make it at the college level. He also helped
me to transition from living at home to living on my own. I’d never been
alone and away from home like that before. Coach Pick helped me with what
seem like simple things now, such as managing my time and building strong
study habits, but a the time it all seemed overwhelming. He taught me to be
a better basketball player, of course, but he taught me to be a better
person.
