Braves New World: Gus Gerard

(Budd Bailey and Greg D. Tranter have written a book called "Buffalo Braves From A to Z," published by St. Johann Press. Early in the writing process, they wrote good-sized biographies of all 71 men who played a regular-season game for the Braves during their time in Buffalo from 1970 to 1978. Publishers weren't so enthusiastic about all of that material, so most (59) of the biographies were shortened to about 500 words. However, the authors hated to waste all of that material ... so they are presenting it here. It will appear three times a week. A bibliography is available upon request.)

Gus Gerard could jump. In fact, he could almost fly. That led him to basketball, and Gerard used that to go from a high school standout from the Pittsburgh area to the University of Virginia and to a pro career that included parts of two seasons with the Buffalo Braves. The problem was that Gus picked up a cocaine addiction along the way. It took him until many years after his basketball career had ended to get it under control and help others with drug addictions, but at least the story has a happy ending.

Daniel James “Gus” Gerard was born on July 27, 1953, in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. His parents were Helen M. Ryczek Gerard and Gustave J. (Gus) Gerard Jr. His dad was a World War II veteran and a truck driver for Chemical Leamon Truck Lines. Young Gus had three sisters and a younger brother. Gus grew up in Uniontown, a coal mining and steel town in its heyday. Uniontown is located in Fayette County and is 46 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The community sports a population of a little over 10,000; one of its claims to fame is it is the birthplace of McDonald’s Big Mac sandwich.

Gus attended Laurel Highlands High School in Uniontown. The most famous athlete to attend Laurel Highlands probably was Major League Baseball pitcher Terry Mulholland. Gerard developed his basketball skills on the playgrounds in downtown Pittsburgh, and put them to good use.

Gus played on the varsity as a sophomore and started the last seven games of the season. As a junior in the 1969-70 season, Gerard led the team in scoring with a 22.1 per game average. He set his career high with a 40-point game. In his senior year Gus led the Mustangs to a 20-4 record and the WPIAL Section 7 championship. They won the title, 61-57, over Uniontown, as Gerard scored 29 points. Gus finished second in the district in scoring with 558 points in 24 games (23.3 average). He capped off his high school hoops career by playing in the prestigious Roundball Classic at Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena.

Gerard had more than 300 scholarship offers, and chose to play at the University of Virginia. Gus led the freshman basketball team in scoring in 1971-72 with a 24.1 per game average along with 12.2 rebounds per contest. As a sophomore he joined the likes of future NBA players Barry Parkhill and Wally Walker on the Cavaliers’ varsity. After seeing Gerard play in the preseason at Virginia, Parkhill called Gus “a white Julius Erving” because of his great leaping ability. That’s high praise for a player awaiting his first varsity game.

Gus made his varsity debut on December 12, 1972, and led the team with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the Cavaliers’ 92-69 victory over Washington & Lee. The 6-foot-8 forward was not quite another Dr. J., but he was a solid player in leading Virginia in rebounding (8.2 per game) and was second in scoring (14.8 points per game). The Cavaliers finished in the middle of the pack in the ACC at 13-12. He was named second team All-ACC.

With the loss of Parkhill to the NBA, Gerard, now a junior, and Walker had to carry the team. “Gus is an exceptional leaper with outstanding scoring ability, especially around the basket,” is how the Uniontown Evening Standard described Gerard going into his junior year. Despite an excellent season from Gus, the Cavaliers fell to 11-16. Gerard led the squad in both scoring (20.8 ppg) and rebounding (10.2 rpg). He was second in the ACC in scoring behind All-American David Thompson of North Carolina State. Gerard had his career high of 32 points in an 81-80 win over Denver. A highlight came when he had 30 points in a 68-63 win over Clemson in the ACC Tournament. However, the Cavs’ season ended in the following game with a loss to No. 1 North Carolina State. Gus was again named to the second team All-ACC.

Gerard was drafted by the American Basketball Association’s Carolina Cougars in the second round of the league’s undergrad draft, and was offered a six-figure contract. Gerard seriously considered the offer to leave school early. But he found out that the Cougars had financial problems, as head coach Larry Brown left the team to work in Denver. Gus turned down the offer.

But then the situation changed. The Cougars moved to St. Louis and became the Spirits of St. Louis. The new ownership group called Gerard again, and Gus took a five-year deal worth $1 million to turn pro in August 1974. “It’s what I had been waiting for,” Gerard said. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t very interested in school anymore.” Gus finished his career at Virginia with 931 points in 52 games with averages of 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

He was named to the United States team for the World Championships in Puerto Rico during the summer of 1974. The Americans finished the tournament with a 9-1 record but lost to the Soviet Union and finished with a bronze medal. Gerard averaged 17.1 points per game in the tournament.

Gerard joined rookies Marvin Barnes, Maurice Lucas and James “Fly” Williams on the Spirits along with NBA veteran Joe Caldwell. Gus made his professional debut on October 18, 1974. He scored 11 points in the Spirits’ 97-92 loss to the Memphis Sounds. He was a starter for St. Louis from his first game. Two days after his ABA debut, Gus married Gaye Goetz, and a few hours after that he scored 21 points against the Utah Stars. Gus had an outstanding rookie season. He led the team in games played, appearing in all 84 games. He was third on the squad in both scoring and rebounding with 15.7 and 7.8 per game averages respectively. Gerard teamed with Barnes and Lucas to form the only all-rookie front line in modern basketball history. Gus was named to the first team ABA All-Rookie team, joining teammate Barnes along with Bobby Jones, Billy Knight and Moses Malone. (Four of the five eventually played in Buffalo.) The Spirits had a disappointing season as they finished with a 32-52 regular season record.

Despite the Spirits’ poor regular season record, they stunned the New York Nets in the first round of the playoffs, 4-1. St. Louis lost the first game of the series and then swept the Erving-led Nets to win the series. Entering the playoffs, the Spirits were 0-12 against the Nets. Gus averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds in the series - which is considered one of the biggest upsets in the ABA’s playoff history. However, the Spirits could not keep it going as they lost to the eventual ABA champion Kentucky Colonials, 4-1. Gerard’s numbers fell off to only 5.6 points and 4 rebounds per game.

His future looked extremely bright following his rookie season. But along the way he began a cocaine drug habit that would derail his career and his life. “Yeah, I remember the first time I really tried it,” Gerard said. “I was in New York (with the Spirits), and we had a couple of days there. This guy I knew from college came up to my room and said ‘Hey, I have some coke. You should try it, man. It really gives you a lift.’ It was all stuff like that. So I tried it, and I immediately fell in love with cocaine. It became a big part of my life after that.” It also did not help that Barnes was also a user.

Gus returned to the Spirits for his second season, but played only 22 games before he was sold to the Denver Nuggets. Brown was the still Nuggets’ head coach and had liked Gerard ever since he tried to lure him out of college when he was coaching for Carolina. Gerard’s playing time decreased from 32.2 minutes to 21.1 per game for the 1975-76 season and his production dropped as well. He averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 82 games. The Nuggets, led by Thompson, Dan Issel and Ralph Sampson, finished with the best record in the ABA at 60-22. They defeated the defending champion Colonials, 4-3, in the ABA semifinals, but lost the championship series to the Nets, 4-2. Gerard came off the bench in each of the 13 games and contributed 4.6 points per game in an average of 10.9 minutes.

A merger between the ABA and NBA was announced on June 17, 1976, and Denver was one of four ABA clubs (the others were Indiana, New York and San Antonio) absorbed into the newly expanded NBA. Gus played 24 games with the Nuggets, averaging 10 points per game, before he was traded to the Buffalo Braves along with Chuck Williams for Jim Price – someone having his own addiction problems - on December 15, 1976.

He joined a Braves franchise in turmoil. Gerard played 41 games for Buffalo under a revolving door of head coaches. First it was Tates Locke, who was fired on January 25, 1977, after leading the team to a 16-30 record. Bob MacKinnon took over for seven games, and then it was Joe Mullaney, to finish the disappointing 30-52 season.

Gus played behind Adrian Dantley and averaged 14.4 minutes per game. He contributed 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest. His best game with the Braves was an 18-point game in a 130-111 loss to the Knicks on April 3. He was back with the Braves and his fourth head coach, Cotton Fitzsimmons, to begin the 1977-78 season. At one point during an early-season practice, Gerard took off and completed a stunning slam dunk that left mouths open. Fitzsimmons took the obvious next step – he ended practice shortly after the ball went through the net.

Still, Gerard did not like playing in Buffalo, and lasted all of ten games with Buffalo that season. He was sent to the Pistons along with John Shumate and a first-round draft choice in exchange for former teammate Barnes and two draft picks in a huge trade. Again, addicts were part of both sides of a deal, which sadly was quite typical of the NBA in that era.

Gus hoped the trade would revive his career. His minutes increased to his highest since he played in Denver to 17.1 per game. And his points per game also increased to 7.9. He also got some revenge against the Braves at Memorial Auditorium, in the first game played between the two teams following the trade. Gerard scored 19 points, including four slam dunks, in the Pistons’ 103-87 win on December 31. “Personally, it was good for me because I think I showed the people how I can play and how I would have played if I’d have gotten time here,” Gerard said. “It bothers me that they (Buffalo) thought I couldn’t play.” But his play was still erratic and inconsistent. Detroit finished with a 38-44 record and out of the playoffs.

Dick Vitale took over as Pistons coach for the 1978-79 season and Gus did not last long. “Toward the end of last season, when it looked like we were out of the playoffs, the team got kind of lackadaisical. I hurt my ankle and I worked hard all summer trying to get back into shape and ready to play,” Gerard said. “Then Vitale walked in and said he was going to play his two rookies from Detroit (Terry Tyler and John Long) and he said there wasn’t room for me.” Gus was waived after playing only two games. Less than 48 hours later he was claimed by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. He was back with Fitzsimmons, who was now the coach of the Kings.

Gerard played 145 games for the Kings over the next three seasons in a reserve role, and his playing time continued to decline. The Kings waived Gerard on December 29, 1980. He signed with San Antonio on February 8, 1981, and played six games with the Spurs before he was released. His NBA career was over. In the latter part of his basketball career, he cared less and less about basketball. “His motivation had become the quest for cocaine, even if it cost him his career, his family and every cent of almost $2 million he earned along the way,” reported Michael Murphy of the Houston Chronicle. Gerard played 446 total games between his time in the ABA and NBA and finished with an 8.4 points per game average.

His life spun out of control once he retired from the game. “It became a nightmare when I got out of basketball,” Gerard said. “I stopped getting paid, but I kept using the family money to support my cocaine habit. It wasn’t just cocaine, though. I was drinking a lot, and when I’d drink, I’d start wanting cocaine. I started using it to feel normal instead of using it for a little bit of a party atmosphere. It became a way of life. When I woke up, cocaine was right there with me. Everything I did, I’d have my little vile in my pocket so I could go in the bathroom and snort. I didn’t care. All I cared about was that coke.”

His wife divorced him in 1987. His two children did not want anything to do with him. Gerard was spiraling out of control. “Finally after so much drinking and drugs, I decided that I was going to kill myself,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘I know this chicken way out, but I’ll just get out of everybody’s way.’” He had remembered how a former teammate had committed suicide by asphyxiating themselves by running the car in an enclosed garage.

Gerard tried the same approach, following several days of binging on vodka and cocaine. “Like a true drug addict I had spent all my money on alcohol and drugs and never put gas in the car,” said Gerard. “The car ran out of gas. I had passed out, but woke up in the garage very groggy, and the car had stopped running.” At that moment he knew that he was lucky. “I started to pray right there,” Gerard said. “And I said ‘Man, I need some help. Somebody help me. What am I doing with my life?’”

He heard about a drug treatment center in Houston that former basketball teammate John Lucas had rehabilitated from his drug habit by attending. Gus called Lucas and began his recovery. He spent 110 days in Lucas’ facility and two years in a halfway house. Not only did he recover, but he was trained as a licensed chemical dependency counselor to help other addicts. Since then he has devoted his life to helping other addicts. He has been a counselor at Next Step, a halfway house that helps former substance abusers. Gus has been involved in Bouncing Back, where athletes visit schools and talk about their addiction and recovery stories. He was also CEO of Extended After Care in Houston for ten years. “Every day I see someone come in who is in the same situation I was in,” Gerard said. “When I see them put their lives back together, that’s my reward.”

He had been drug free since May, 1993 and he has reconciled with his two adult children, daughter, Kacie and son, Walker. By 2017, Gus had returned to his roots and opened a pub in Uniontown with his second wife Pam. On the walls hang photos of Gus and other famous athletes from that town. He’s back home.

“The best days were the high school days,” Gerard explained. “Of all the college games I’ve played in and the pro games, college was pretty intense and there were some intense pro games, but there is nothing like the feeling of a team playing for your high school and your little community. You’re playing for the pride of not only team and yourself and your family, but for your neighbor up the street and your classmates. Those memories of going to high school at Laurel Highlands will never go away.”

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