Gardner's Illness at Pro Tryout Becomes UAPB's Gain by James Gilzow, Arkansas Gazette The following article appeared in the ; Arkansas Gazette on Sunda y, January 6, 1985. It was re printed with the Gaze ll e's , as well as James Gilzow's, pe rmission. The article was written about a former student-ossistant coach 0/ Harding who li ke Harding has emba~ked on "the Start of Something New. As best as Butch Gardner could recall , it was a typical summer afternoon in Atlanta. The temperature was closing in on 100 degrees, the humidity reading was nearly indentical and there wasn't ,the slightest hint of a breeze, It simply was not basketball weather, Nevertheless, basketball was the only thing on Gardner's mind, It had been four months, ever since he received invitation to attend the Atlanta Hawks' tryout camp. Still fresh from a third consecutive NAIA All-American year at Harding University, Gardner had known that Georgia weather wou ldn't be pleasant and had taken adyantage of the similar summer conditions in Searcy to condition himself for the camp , In the mornings and afternoons, he worked with his father, driving tractors and pushing lawn mowers. In the evenings he worked out in the o ld Harding gymnasium - running , lifting weights and shooting baskets, When the daily finally came to board the plane to Atlanta for the four-day camp, Gardne r was ready, he thought His spirits rose even higher when he arrived and learned that the camp would be conducted in an ancient, ramshackle gymnasium without air conditioning rather than in the more comfortable quarters he had expected, Surely, being accustomed to su ltry conditions would be an advantage over players from cooler climates, Gardner thought But in the morning sessions of the first day of camp, he sensed something was wrong, He felt sluggish and just didn' t have his usual stamina, He struggled through, but became dizzy a few minutes into the Nell Lee Thannlsch · San Antonio, TX. Computer Science. King's Men , se<:., vice· pres.; Big Brothers; Cllmpaigns. lowll. St . Louis ; Dlita Processing Managment Association; DietetK;s: Orchestra. Brent D. Thoma5 . Raytown. MO. Marketing. Donna Ann Thoma• . Welbburg, WV. NurSing. Transferred from Ohio Valley Col· lege. Phi Delta, Dean's Ust: Harding Student Nursing Assodlilion . Slephen Palrlck Thomas· PhoenlKville, PA. Biochemistry. . . John Tom Thompton . Nlishville. TN Po/itic;al Scie~ and Mus Communication. Buccaneers; Intramurllls: Football , cllptain; KHCA staff; T.V. 12 sports anchor, pro. gram dire<:tor , Mary Lou Thompton . Larren, AI. Office Systems. Ka Re TlI , devotional director. se<.; Bison stllff: Harding Unlll(>r5ity in Florence; JOY: May Queen Attendant . Megan Denise Thompson · Woco, TX . Management. Sandra Jane Thompton . Davenport , NE. Nursing. Transferred from York College. Stephen LHter Thompson · Fort Smith, AR. Social Science. Transferred from Western Kentucky Community College. Sub T· 16; College Republkans; lntramurals; ~~r;~A~~t:;~~mson . Salil;bury, Zimbabwl. Public Relations. Ko Jo K~i, see; Cam· palgns, Northeast ; College Republicans: Intrllmurals: Public Relations Student Society 01 America; VISA, Enoch Lynn Thweatt · Taipei, TlIiwan, Mathematics. Alpha Gamma Omega; Dean's Ust: ln!Tamurals, jllcket; Kappa De1t~ PI : PEMM Club: Se~rcy Steel Soccer team, cap· tain . Gall Elbabelh TUlery . Florence, AL. English and French. Alpha Chi; BIson staff: Chorale: French Club, vice·pres. , pres .: Sigma Tau Detta . Pamela Sue Tiner · JlIckson. TN. Physical Education. Tri·Sictma Delta, athletic dlrec· tor; Dean's List; Intramurals . AII·Stal, )acker, Soltban. AII·Ale. Sandra Kaye Todd · Prairie Grove. AR Sp-I!(:ial Education. Ju Co Ju, devotional director. spilit director, prei.; Dean's List; Harding Univer5lty In ROlence ; Kappa Delta PI: Cllmpus Ministry: ICC rep , William Scott TomlinfOn - Pine Bluff, AR. MlIna~ment. 230 Seniors afternoon session, then suddenly was gripped with cramps and collapsed from what was later diagnosed as a severe electro lyte imbalance, As Gardner went down , so did his lifelong dream of playing in the NBA , " I had really thought I would have an advantage by being accustomed to working in hot weather," Gardner explained, " I didn't feel rea l good, but I did a1l right in the morn ing session, When we came back that afternoon, though, I knew something was wrong, I felt as bad or worse than I ever have, All of a sudden I got those cramps and just co llapsed, I thought I was going to die, " "That was the end of my basketbail career; my one and only chance to play in the NBA," So Gardner came home , The healing process, both physical and mental, was brie/' With a great dea l of encouragement from family and fri ends, Gardner decided to return to Harding the foll owing fall and pursue a master's degree in p hysical education, As it turned out , the decision was one he would long be glad he made, As part of the graduate curricu lum, Gardner served as a graduate assistant to Bison coach Jess Bucy, Although he already had played four years and became Harding's all-time leading scorer under Bucy, Gardner got the feel of coaching and liked it On completion of graduate school in the spring of '79, Gardner was, in a way, reimbursed for his misfortunes in Atlan ta when Harding offiCials, at Bucy's urging, hired him as a full-time assistan t Even though there wasn't a vacancy, Bucy felt strongly enough about Gardner to convince officials to create an opening, "He was an outstanding player for us and I knew he'd be an ou tstanding coach also," Bucy explained, "We really didn't want to lose him , We were very close friends then (co~tinued on page 233)
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