Catching up with 鈥� Gus Gerard
Sometimes even Gus Gerard is surprised at what he was able to accomplish in the sport of basketball when he reflects on his career.
Gerard scored 1,198 points in just three years at Laurel Highlands, starred at the University of Virginia and played seven seasons of professional basketball in the ABA and NBA.
鈥淲hen I look back on it, I鈥檓 just amazed a kid from Hatfield School playground here growing up and shoveling snow off the court actually made it to that level,鈥� Gerard said.
Gerard, who spoke to a local contingent of 1,000-point high school basketball players at Rizz鈥檚 restaurant in Uniontown at its 缅北禁地 Wall of Recognition dinner in May, looked back on his own basketball journey which began at Laurel Highlands under head coach Harold 鈥淗orse鈥� Taylor and assistant coach Ron Fudal.
鈥淢y first year at Laurel Highlands we were coming off the state championship in 1968,鈥� Gerard recalled. 鈥淏asketball was crazy at LH. We had legendary coach Horse Taylor and Ron Fudala. I was a scared, skinny sophomore afraid I wouldn鈥檛 make the team.鈥�
Gerard did make the team and played for the Mustangs鈥� junior varsity as a sophomore.
But not for long.
鈥淲e were playing a JV game against Donora and I had a horrible first half,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淎t halftime they told me to stay in the locker room, and I didn鈥檛 know if I was being cut or whatever.
鈥淲ell, what it was about was Coach Taylor wanted me on the varsity team. I started against Donora, had like 39 points and 19 rebounds and we won. I was never out of the starting lineup after that.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of where my career took off.鈥�
Gerard, at 6-foot-7, was the Mustangs center and an outstanding rebounder as well as a great scorer.
鈥淚 used to play with Rick Hauger and Barry Taylor and I used to tease them, I鈥檇 say, 鈥楪o ahead, take all the shots you want, I鈥檒l just get your misses and put them back in,'鈥� Gerard said with a chuckle.
Gerard earned a slew of honors at LH, including being named all-section, all-county and all-state. He was named to the High School All-America team and played in the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic, helping the Pennsylvania team beat the United States team, 110-98.
The top college coaches in the country took note.
鈥淚 was being heavily recruited by over 100 schools, everywhere from Kansas to Texas to Florida State,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淣orth Carolina really put a lot of pressure on me as did Duke and Maryland and Virginia.鈥�
Local ties eventually swayed him to the Cavaliers.
鈥淚 ended up in Virginia. Jim Hobgood had gone there and their coaches had a real good relationship with the LH coaches,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淥ur whole team went to their camp, which was in Gettysburg of all places, and I got to know their coaches real well. From my sophomore summer on they wouldn鈥檛 let me out of their sight, I mean they were at my house all the time.鈥�
The Tar Heels were in the running to land Gerard until the very end.
鈥淚t came down to North Carolina and Virginia and I chose Virginia and never looked back.鈥�
Gerard enjoyed all the recruiting attention.
鈥淚t was pretty cool being recruited back then,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭here was Lefty Dreisell of Maryland, he would come here and (Maryland assistant coach) George Raveling, and Duke coaches. Dean Smith was recruiting me from North Carolina and he sent Bill Guthridge up here a lot, who eventually took over for him.
鈥淒ean finally came up himself my senior year. My dad was working so he took my mom and I out to eat at the Mount Vernon Inn. He asked me if I wanted a shrimp cocktail and I said I鈥檝e never had one so he said well let鈥檚 get you one, so Dean Smith bought me my first shrimp cocktail and it was here in Uniontown, Pa.
鈥淏ill Gibson was coaching Virginia at that time. He was from Mansfield, Pa. We had a lot of Pa. guys on that team, a lot of Western Pa. guys, too, like Frank DeWitt from Mt. Lebanon, Bob McKeag from Erie McDowell, Barry Parkhill from State College, of course Hobgood, myself, also Dan Bonner from Avonworth.鈥�
Freshmen were still not eligible to play NCAA Division-I varsity basketball when Gerard arrived at Virginia.
鈥淲e had to play freshmen ball,鈥� he pointed out. 鈥淚t was the following year freshmen became eligible to play four years. We鈥檇 play before the varsity team against the same school.鈥�
Once he became a sophomore Gerard was immediately inserted into the starting lineup.
鈥淢y sophomore year I made second team All-ACC,鈥� said Gerard who was forced to play a bit out of position with the Cavaliers. 鈥淚 played center for Virginia because we had some injuries at that position. I was only 6-7 and it was tough playing against North Carolina State and 7-2 (Tom) Burleson and Maryland and 6-10 Len Elmore. Clemson had Tree Rollins and Duke had a seven-footer, too.
鈥淚 hung with them because none of them could out-jump me.鈥�
Gerard had a memorable game against Rollins, who also went on play in the NBA, in an ACC tournament game when he totaled 31 points and almost 20 rebounds.
Gerard took another step up his junior year with the Cavaliers.
鈥淚 really improved a lot between my sophomore and junior year,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淚 averaged about 10 rebounds and over 22 points a game and was the second-leading scorer in the ACC that season behind David Thompson of North Carolina State. Thompson was fabulous, the best college player I鈥檝e ever seen or played against. He was something else. They won the national championship in 1974.鈥�
While the NBA could not recruit college underclassmen at the time, the ABA allowed that practice and a few teams zoned in on Gerard.
鈥淧ro teams started to show interest in me, especially the ABA because the NBA couldn鈥檛 take undergraduates then,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淚 ended up leaving Virginia between my junior and senior year. I signed a really big contract for that time, $950,000 for five years and I got a signing bonus check for $75,000.
鈥淭hat was really big money back in those days. Growing up I probably never had more than $20 in my pocket. Then all of a sudden I had all this money coming in while I was playing the game that I loved and was my passion.鈥�
That contract came from the Spirit of St. Louis.
鈥淭he Carolina Cougars had folded and became the Spirit of St. Louis and that鈥檚 the team that signed me and I played for them one year,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淏ut then they had a big selloff and I went to Denver for the next two years.
鈥淭he first year with the Nuggets was the final year of the ABA so I then went into the NBA with them along with three other teams, the Indiana Pacers, the New York Nets and the San Antonio Spurs. I had a short stint in Buffalo, a couple years in Detroit, then had a couple years with Kansas City (now Sacramento) Kings. I get credit for seven years in the league total because they count my two ABA years.鈥�
Gerard played in the 1976 ABA All-Star Game his second year in the league, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds. His teams made the playoffs four times, including the ABA final in 1976 with the Nuggets, who lost a six-game series to the New York Nets who were led by a player named Julius 鈥淒r. J鈥� Irving.
Gerard recalled Irving with fascination and admiration.
鈥淲hen I was in Virginia I saw him. He came right out of UMass, in fact he played with (Laurel Highlands graduate) Jon Kruper at Massachusetts and Jon would come home in the summer and tell us, hey, I鈥檓 playing with this freshman kid up there and he鈥檚 the best player I鈥檝e ever seen in my life,鈥� Gerard recalled with a laugh. 鈥淲hen I was with Virginia, his first team in the ABA, the Virginia Squires, would play games in Richmond and all over the place. So I got to see him play in the ABA and he became my hero. I鈥檇 try to pattern a lot of my game after him, the finger rolls, the swoop to the basket, the dunking.
鈥淗e was something else. You did not want him coming at you with the ball on a fastbreak, because he was going to take off somewhere between the top of the key and around the free throw line, fly right by you and really embarrass you. He was a tremendous player and is a great guy, just a class act. To this day he鈥檚 a great ambassador for the NBA.
鈥淚 saw him sit at an NBA All-Star game once a few years ago and there was a line to get autographs from him after the game was over, it had to be about 200 people and a lot of them were kids. He sat there in the bleachers and patiently signed an autograph for every kid until the last one was gone. He was probably 70 at the time. Not many guys would do that.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud to know him and proud to call him a friend and was certainly thrilled to have the chance to play against him.鈥�
Gerard still looks at his playing days in the ABA and NBA with great affection.
鈥淭hat was such a great time in my life,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was getting paid to play and practice basketball, flying around, even though it was commercial because we didn鈥檛 have all the luxury jets they have now, but we stayed in the best hotels and got a per diem every day we were on the road to eat.
鈥淚 was just so grateful to be there. Some of the guys would complain because maybe we were leaving Boston and had to play the Bulls that night and we had to be on a plane at 5 in the morning. I鈥檇 be thinking, man, come on, we鈥檙e getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to play basketball for two hours. I tried to stay humble. It left wonderful memories for me.鈥�
Gerard still follows his former teams, most particularly Laurel Highlands and Virginia.
鈥淚t was a pleasure to watch a great talent like Rodney and see Laurel Highlands win those two WPIAL championships,鈥� said Gerard, who also was on the roller coaster ride Virginia went on in 2018 and 2019, being the first top seed to lose to a 16 seed in the latter then winning the NCAA title the following year.
鈥淚 follow Virginia every game,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淚 go down there once or twice a year during basketball season. They have reunions for the players to come back all the time. I got to know coach (Tony) Bennett. For them to have that redemption year after losing to the 16 seed was just a remarkable run.鈥�
Gerard also took note of the Denver Nuggets NBA championship two years ago.
鈥淚 was rooting for Denver. I saw Dan Issel and David Thompson on TV, my ex-teammates in Denver, and they were celebrating,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was just a good feeling and I鈥檓 sure Bobby Jones (another former Denver teammate) in his own quiet way at home was thrilled to see that happen, too. I was happy to see them win it. That was a good time in my life when I was in Denver.鈥�
Locally, Gerard is not only recognized in Rizz鈥檚 restaurant but also at the Uniontown Primanti Brothers restaurant as part of a mural inside that features Western Pennsylvania sports legends such as Arnold Palmer, Franco Harris, Roberto Clemente, Sidney Crosby and Bruno Sammartino as well as Uniontown legends Stu Lantz (who celebrated his 79th birthday Sunday) and the late Chuck Muncie.
鈥淵ou talk about a humbling experience,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淭here are some great people on that mural and I鈥檓 on there with them. People were calling me and telling me they have a picture of me at Primanti鈥檚 on the wall right next to where they鈥檙e eating. I didn鈥檛 know anything about it.
鈥淚 called them and the manager said he wanted me to come out and sign it, so I did. That was pretty cool.鈥�
Gerard, who will turn 72 on July 27, currently lives in Uniontown with his wife Pam. He has a daughter Casey, a son, Walker, and a stepdaughter, Andrea.