Archbishop Mitty High School basketball player Drew Gordon listens to his classmate during an art class on Thursday March 13, 2008. Gordon and his teammates will head to Sacramento to compete in state high school basketball championships finals this Friday. (Dai Sugano/Mercury News)
Drew Gordon was remembered as No. 1 among his high school equals, a highly touted basketball talent who paved the way for his younger brother’s journey through Archbishop Mitty and into the NBA.
Gordon, who starred at Mitty himself before moving on to UCLA and then New Mexico before a decade-plus career as a pro, died on Thursday in a car crash near Portland, Oregon.
He was 33.
According to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department, Gordon was driving a three-wheeled autocycle that crossed the center line and collided with a pickup truck in an unincorporated part of the county.
He died at the scene; the pickup driver and a passenger were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The report also noted that impairment does not appear to be a factor.
Gordon’s sudden passing left those who knew him at his former high school and elsewhere in a state of shock, a tragedy that still did not seem real a day later.
The older brother of the Denver Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon, Gordon had settled into a home in Oregon with his wife, Angela, and their three children after retiring from pro basketball last year.
He was running an AAU program and had launched a sports management company with his sister, Elise, said Brian Eagleson, his basketball coach at Mitty and now the school’s athletic director.
“He had a heck of a professional career for 12 or 13 years, but for me, from knowing him when he was 13 years old to 33 when he passed, the man he is now – the father, the husband – he’s one of my closest friends,” Eagleson said. “My own kids call him Uncle Drew.
“My daughter is going up to play soccer in Oregon at Pacific University. She chose that school because it’s like 35 minutes from Drew’s house. She was going to get to see Uncle Drew all the time. It was a rough night.”
Gordon’s era at Mitty was special, a team loaded with talent that made deep postseason runs. He was the Mercury News player of the year as a junior in 2007. A year later, only a foot injury slowed him down. He was still honored as a McDonald’s All-American before playing for Ben Howland’s UCLA program.
JT Hanley was in his first year as Mitty’s sports information director when Gordon was a senior. Currently on an immersion trip in South Africa, Hanley said he was floored when he saw the news that Gordon had died.
“I can’t even get my head wrapped around it, frankly,” Hanley said.
Gordon was already a highlight fixture on Robert Braunstein’s weekly Bay Area high school television show when Hanley arrived at Mitty.
But seeing Gordon – and his teammates – live was a different experience.
“That team was the most talented basketball team as a group that I’ve ever seen,” Hanley said. “The starting five, plus the sixth man on that team, all got D-I scholarships and went on to have careers in college. They were just loaded. But Drew was kind of first among equals.
“In terms of physical prowess, Drew always seemed like a man playing with boys – even in the postseason, the sectionals, the NorCals, the state playoffs. He was so dynamic, explosive and powerful.”
Gordon was also respectful, said Steve Filios, the basketball coach at rival St. Francis during that time.
“Some people say that’s what drove me into retirement. When he graduated, that was the year that I moved on,” Filios said. “A tremendous athlete. He and Collin (Chiverton) were the 1-2 punch. Always a kid with class. He always shook my hand after games and addressed me in a very respectful manner.
“Obviously there was a little bit of show because he could do things that other kids couldn’t do, especially play above the rim and such. But I never felt he disrespected the game or his opponents.”
Tim Kennedy was hired as Mitty’s basketball coach the spring of Gordon’s senior year. He never coached Gordon in high school but bonded with the family while coaching Aaron Gordon.
Kennedy said that Gordon played a significant role in his younger sibling’s rise to stardom. Aaron was named a two-time California Mr. Basketball by Cal-Hi Sports and a McDonald’s All-American. He played one season at Arizona before being drafted No. 4 overall by the Orlando Magic in 2014. Last season, Aaron won an NBA title with the Nuggets.
“Aaron’s not the person he is without him,” Kennedy said. “He kind of paved the way with going through high school, being a high-level recruit and how to deal with all the situations. Aaron was blessed to have that, to sit back and watch as it all developed and create his own road map just watching his brother go through all the same things that he would have to go through.”
Bishop O’Dowd’s Lou Richie coached Gordon for three years with the AAU Oakland Soldiers. He remembered Gordon as an incredible athlete like his father, Ed Gordon, who played at San Diego State.
“Super competitive, liked to have fun, really, really, really smart,” Richie said.
Undrafted by the NBA in 2012, Gordon spent most of his career in Europe and the G-League. He appeared in nine games with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2014-15 season, his only time in the NBA, but his career included seasons spent in Italy, Russia, France, Serbia and Japan
In 2022, Gordon was playing in the Ukrainian Basketball Super League when Russian forces invaded the country.
After the invasion, he posted on X/Twitter, “What’s good everyone!!! Me and the family are home safe and sound!! Thank you for the well wishes and the concern! I hope and pray for the Ukraine to be ok. Loved playing there and hope things calm down.”
Gordon retired in 2023, returning to the West Coast.
“He kind of turned the chapter, being a dad and a businessman,” Eagleson said. “They’re a close-knit family, especially the siblings. All three of them are really close.”