Early Years
Gilmore was born in Chipley, Florida, and reared there and in Dothan, Alabama, — a larger community 35 miles to the north. He graduated from Dothan's Carver High School in 1967. He played college basketball at the Gardner-Webb Junior College for two years and at Jacksonville University for two years, leading the Jacksonville Dolphins team to the NCAA title game in 1970, where they lost 80-69 to the UCLA Bruins. During the two years that Gilmore played NCAA basketball at Jacksonville, he became one of only five college basketball players ever to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds over his career. Gilmore led the NCAA in rebounding both years at Jacksonville, and his career average of 22.7 rebounds per game is still the highest in NCAA Division I history.
When departing from college, Gilmore was drafted by the Kentucky Colonels in the 1971 American Basketball Association draft, and also by the Chicago Bulls in the 1971 NBA Draft.
Read more about this topic: Artis Gilmore
Famous quotes related to early years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)