Drew Gordon, 1990-2024: Death of former Mitty basketball star stuns community

Archbishop Mitty High School basketball player Drew Gordon listens to his classmate during an art class Thursday, March 13, 2008. Gordon and his teammates will travel to Sacramento to compete in the championship finals state high school basketball tournament this Friday. (Dai Sugano/Mercury News)

Drew Gordon is remembered as No. 1 among his high school peers, a highly touted basketball talent who paved the way for his younger brother’s journey through Archbishop Mitty and into the NBA.

Gordon, who himself played in Mitty before moving to UCLA and then New Mexico before a professional career spanning more than a decade, died Thursday in a car accident near Portland, Oregon.

He was 33 years old.

According to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department, Gordon was driving a three-wheel 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 driver of the van and a passenger were taken to hospital, but their lives are not in danger. The report also notes that impairment does not appear to be a factor.

Gordon’s sudden death left those who knew him at his old high school and elsewhere in a state of shock, a tragedy that still didn’t seem real a day later.

The older brother of Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets, Gordon had settled into a home in Oregon with his wife, Angela, and their three children after retiring from professional basketball last year.

He ran an AAU program and started a sports management business with his sister Elise, said Brian Eagleson, his basketball coach at Mitty and now the school’s athletic director.

“He had a hell of a professional career for 12 or 13 years, but for me, knowing him when he was 13 to 33 when he passed away, the man he is now – the father, the husband – it “He’s one of my closest friends,” Eagleson said. “My own kids call him Uncle Drew.

“My daughter is going to play soccer in Oregon at Pacific University. She chose this school because it is 35 minutes from Drew’s house. She was going to be able to see Uncle Drew all the time. It was a difficult night.

Gordon’s time at Mitty was special, a team full of talent that made deep playoff runs. He was the Mercury News Player of the Year as a junior in 2007. A year later, only a foot injury slowed him. 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 to South Africa, Hanley said he was stunned when he heard the news of Gordon’s death.

“I honestly can’t even wrap my head around this,” Hanley said.

Gordon was already a fixture on Robert Braunstein’s weekly Bay Area high school TV 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 I’ve ever seen,” Hanley said. “The five starters, as well as the sixth man on this team, all earned DI scholarships and continued their careers in college. They were just loaded. But Drew was sort of first among equals.

“In terms of physical prowess, Drew always seemed like a guy playing with boys – even in the playoffs, in sectionals, at NorCals, in the state playoffs. He was so dynamic, explosive and powerful.

Gordon was also respectful, said Steve Filios, the basketball coach at rival St. Francis at that time.

“Some say that’s what made me retire. When he graduated, that’s the year I left the job,” Filios said. “A tremendous athlete. He and Collin (Chiverton) scored the double. Always a child with class. He always shook my hand after matches and spoke to me in a very respectful manner.

“Obviously there was a bit of a spectacle because he could do things that other kids couldn’t do, including playing above the rim and so on. But I never felt like he disrespected the game or his opponents.

Tim Kennedy was hired as Mitty’s basketball coach in 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 Gordon played an important role in his younger brother’s rise to stardom. Aaron was twice named California’s Mr. Basketball by Cal-Hi Sports and a McDonald’s All-American. He played one season in Arizona before being drafted No. 4 overall by the Orlando Magic in 2014. Last season, Aaron won an NBA title with the Nuggets.

“Aaron is not the person he is without him,” Kennedy said. “He kind of paved the way coming through high school, being a top recruit and knowing how to handle all situations. Aaron was lucky enough to have that, to sit back and watch it all develop and create his own roadmap by just watching his brother go through all the same things he should go through.

Bishop O’Dowd’s Lou Richie coached Gordon for three years with the Oakland AAU Soldiers. He remembered Gordon as an incredible athlete, just like his father, Ed Gordon, who played at San Diego State.

“Super competitive, fun-loving, really, really, really smart,” Richie said.