Loyola Marymount University will honor the late basketball great Hank Gathers – who led the nation in scoring and rebounding during his junior year as an LMU Lion, propelling the team to new heights – by constructing a statue in his likeness, announced Athletic Director Craig Pintens. LMU plans to unveil the statue in spring 2020, in front of Gersten Pavilion.
The timing coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Lions’ pivotal 1989-90 basketball season, in which the team overcame Gathers’ tragic death following a collapse during a conference playoff game that inspired a run deep into the NCAA tournament. The project will be funded entirely with private donations. To learn more about the statue and Gathers’ legacy, go to hank44.lmu.edu.
Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams have announced their signing classes for the fall. Head Coach Paul Krumpe, entering his 22nd season, will bring in a large and impactful group with this season’s class. The 11 incoming men’s soccer players come to LMU from all over the globe; the newest Lions are from California, Jamaica, Europe and South America. Head Coach Michelle Myers has completed her signing class for the fall 2019 season with the addition of 10 new women’s soccer players. The predominately California-based class, with one from both Washington and Colorado, will be on campus to begin the 2019 season.
The Western Water Polo Association has released the 2018 All-Academic team from this fall. Seven Lions represented the men’s water polo team.
A few hires have been announced on the LMU basketball staffs. Taja Edwards will be joining the Loyola Marymount women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach, announced by Head Coach Charity Elliott on Wednesday. Edwards enters her eighth season of Division I coaching, while she spent her last two seasons at Dartmouth as the as the director of recruiting, defense coordinator and the career development liaison. Elliott also announced that Assistant Coach Jasmin Holliday has been promoted to the Lions’ recruiting coordinator. Holliday enters her fourth season with the team, as she started as the director of operations before moving into an assistant coaching position.
On the men’s side, David Hall joins the LMU men’s basketball staff as the team’s director of basketball operations heading into the 2019-20 season, his first with the team. Prior to joining the Lions, Hall served as a decorated youth basketball coach in the Los Angeles Area over the greater part of the last decade. His coaching resume includes working at Crespi Carmelite High School, West Coast Elite UAA, and Adidas Global Nations. A winner at each spot, Hall’s trophy case includes a California CIF Division 4 Division Championship, back-to-back California CIF Division 4 and 1 State Championships, a trip to the UAA Final Four, and a trip to the Adidas National title game.
The Top 10 Highlights of 2018-19 countdown continues throughout the summer. As we prepare for more excitement in 2019-20, we’re counting down the Top 10 Moments of this past year. Number nine focused on the academic successes of the athletes and athletic department. In addition to conference All-Academic numbers reaching triple digits, the academic year featured a number of successes not only in competition, but also in the classroom.
