Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all-time. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 and National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1977. Early life Gola was the third of seven children born to Ike and Helen Gola. Gola's father was a Philadelphia policeman of Polish descent who had changed the family's surname from "Galinsky". Gola was praised as a great all-around player as a high school student at La Salle College High School, where he led the Explorers to a Philadelphia Catholic League Championship. He entered La Salle a year after another Philadelphia basketball Hall of Famer, Paul Arizin, graduated from Villanova. College career (1951–1955) Gola was one of the most talented collegiate athletes in Philadelphia sports history. He came to national attention while playing for his hometown La Salle University Explorers men's basketball team. Gola starred as a college freshman and led La Salle to the 1952 NIT championship. Gola paced the Explorers to the NCAA basketball championship in 1954 and was named Tournament MVP. That same season he was selected as National Player of the Year. As a senior, Gola helped La Salle finish as the runner-up in the 1955 NCAA Tournament. At 6'6" (198 cm), Gola was clearly a forward who could shoot/score, rebound and defend, but he also had the ballhandling (dribbling, passing) skills of a guard, and with his shooting range and All-Pro defensive skills, could play just as well in the backcourt. He averaged 20.9 points and 19.0 rebounds during 115 games and remains the NCAA All time rebounding leader with 2,201 career rebounds. He was inducted into the La Salle Hall of Athletes in 1961 and the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1977, Tom Gola was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. Gola was listed on "ESPN's Countdown to the Greatest" College basketball players as #17. NBA career (1955–1966) After a phenomenal college career, Gola turned pro with the Philadelphia Warriors as a territorial draft pick. He teamed with All-Pros Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston to lead the Warriors to an NBA championship in 1956. He gained praise for concentrating on defense, passing and rebounding and allowing the other two to be the chief scorers during