Gordon on standby

Press, 4 June 1982, Page 28

Gordon on standby

Gilbert Gordon, the “rising 22-year-old” University of Canterbury student, was nonplussed when he was told on Wednesday evening that he might get a trip to Taiwan with the N.Z. basketball team, in place of the injured Waitemata player, Peter Logan.

A somewhat bewildered Gordon found it hard to believe that if Logan failed to pass a fitness test he would replace the huge and dominating figure of the 22-year-old Aucklander, recognised as the best centreforward in New Zealand.

Gordon, commonly known as “elbows,” is in his third year of study for an engineering degree at Canterbury and his two performances for his province last weekend were sufficient to put him on the short-list for national representation if Logan failed to pass a fitness test because of an injured knee.

Gordon, the third son in a family of four, started playing basketball at Otaki College in the fourth form and later captained his college at the national secondary schools’ championships in 1977. His first year of tertiary education was spent at Wellington’s Victoria University. Then he moved to Ham. Similar to most provincial players, basketball - and studies — fill his time. Apart from his commitments with Canterbury and his club, University, Gordon also coaches the University C side.