Bo Kimble
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gregory Kevin "Bo" Kimble (born April 9, 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American former college basketball star at Loyola Marymount University and professional National Basketball Association player. In the 1989-90 season, he led the 11th seeded Loyola Marymount basketball team on an amazing run to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament.
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[edit] High school
Kimble played prep ball with Hank Gathers at Dobbins Technical High School in Philadelphia, with the pair leading the team to the Public League City championship in 1985. Both Gathers and Kimble were then recruited to the University of Southern California by Head Coach Stan Morrison and his top assistant, David Spencer. After Morrison and Spencer were fired following the 1985-86 season, Kimble and Gathers transferred together from USC to Loyola Marymount.
[edit] College
After sitting out the 1986-87 season as required under NCAA rules for transfer students, the pair became the centerpiece of arguably the most entertaining college team in history. LMU's then-coach Paul Westhead installed an extraordinarily fast-paced game plan. On offense, the Lions typically took shots within 10 seconds of gaining possession, with many of the shots being three-pointers. The Lions' defense was a full-court press designed to force opponents into a frenzied up-and-down game. LMU set numerous NCAA scoring records; to this day, LMU games occupy the top five places in the list of highest-scoring Division I games.
[edit] Hank Gathers' death
During the 1990 West Coast Conference tournament, Gathers collapsed and died of a heart condition in LMU's semifinal against Portland. As a result of Gathers' death, the 1990 WCC tournament was suspended, and Loyola Marymount was given the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament (as a #11 seed) due to their regular season championship. During LMU's subsequent run to the Elite Eight, Kimble (who was right-handed), Gathers' best friend and teammate, shot his first free throw of each game left-handed in memory of Gathers (although right-handed, he struggled so much with free throws that he tried shooting them left-handed for a time), making all four attempts.
[edit] NBA
Later that year, Kimble was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 8th overall pick of the 1990 NBA Draft. At the time, The Clippers were playing in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, the same building that Kimble played in with Gathers, while they were at USC. As a rookie, Kimble averaged 6.9 points per game. However, his NBA career was plagued by injuries. In the summer of 1992, Kimble was traded to the New York Knicks as part of a three-team, six-player deal that brought Mark Jackson to the Clippers. Kimble played only nine games for the Knicks, and was released at the end of the season, bringing his brief NBA career to an end.
On January 29, 2005, members of Gathers' 1989-90 team, including Kimble, were inducted into the Loyola Marymount Hall of Fame during halftime of a 63-46 win over cross-town rival Pepperdine.
He also starred in the 1991 movie Heaven is a Playground as fictional high schooler Matthew Lockhart.
