He died playing the game he loved

When former 76er Armon Gilliam was a senior at Bethel Park High School, south of Pittsburgh, he did not receive one scholarship offer from an NCAA Division I school. Five years later, Gilliam was the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft.

Gilliam's meteoric rise from unknown to all-American at UNLV and later an NBA star was fashioned through hard work and a commitment to his craft. Gilliam's life, described as storybook by his friends, ended Tuesday night while playing the game he loved.

Gilliam collapsed while playing a game of pickup basketball at the L.A. Fitness in Bridgeville, Pa., southwest of Pittsburgh.

He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 9:28 p.m. The cause of death is unknown pending an autopsy by the Allegheny County coroner's office. He was 47.

"I'm still shook up," former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian said Wednesday afternoon. "He was such a great person."

Rod Thorn, president of the 76ers, said in a statement that the team was "deeply saddened" to learn about Gilliam's death.

"He was a hardworking, physical player during his distinguished 13 years in the NBA, and we are proud of the contributions he made to the Sixers from 1990 to 1993," Thorn said. "On behalf of the entire Sixers organization, we send our deepest condolences to the Gilliam family during this very difficult time."

In his three seasons with the 76ers, Gilliam averaged 14.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 211 games from 1990-91 to 1992-93. He started 81 games in the 1991-92 season, averaging 16.9 points. He left for New Jersey as a free agent.

It was Tarkanian who signed Gilliam out of Independence Junior College in Kansas, where he played after his senior season at Bethel Park. The coaching legend described the recruitment of Gilliam as pure luck.

Tarkanian sent assistant coach Mark Warkentein to scout the national junior college tournament because he wanted to sign Spoon James, who was playing for San Jacinto Junior College.

"He called me from the tournament and said, 'I think we have Spoon, but there's another guy here who is a real sleeper,' " Tarkanian recalled. "We signed Armon, and he came to UNLV."

Nicknamed "The Hammer," Gilliam turned into one of the all-time great players at UNLV. An all-American selection in 1987, Gilliam is seventh on UNLV's career scoring list with 1,855 points. He holds the UNLV record for most points in a season with 903 in 1986-87 and most field goals made in a season with 359, also in 1986-87. He was inducted into the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 1987, Gilliam led UNLV to the Final Four. The Runnin' Rebels lost to eventual national champion Indiana in a national semifinal game, but Gilliam scored 32 points in the 97-93 loss to the Hoosiers.

"Armon was the catalyst on that team," Tarkanian said. "He outworked everyone. That's how he made himself into an NBA player."

Gilliam played 13 seasons in the NBA for six teams - the Suns, Hornets, 76ers, Nets, Bucks, and Jazz. For his career he averaged 13.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He shot 48.9 percent from the field in 929 NBA games. He retired in 2000.

But Gilliam never dreamed of an NBA career when he was growing up. He played football and wrestled in elementary and middle school in Bethel Park. It wasn't until his junior year at Bethel Park High School that he finally made the varsity basketball team.

"When I reflect on it, he had an unbelievable story," said Rick Bell, a former teammate at Bethel Park. "We played together on the junior varsity team. He didn't even play organized basketball until high school. For him to go from that to the second overall pick in the NBA draft. . . . Movies are made about stuff like that."

After retiring from the NBA in 2000, Gilliam was named the head coach at Penn State-Altoona in 2002. He came out of retirement in 2005-06 and played for the now-defunct Pittsburgh Xplosion of the American Basketball Association.

Since then, Gilliam settled back into life as a father in Bethel Park. He regularly took his two boys, Jeremiah, 9, and Joshua, 6, to children's programs at Bethel Park Library. He also ran a basketball camp at Ringgold High School the last few years.

"He was humble," said Judge Jeffrey Deller, a friend of Gilliam's. "I knew him for a year before he told me he played in the NBA. He didn't walk around like a big shot. He was a renaissance man."