Kurt Tatge was my first No. 44. He played for my father at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and I always thought his number was cool. Tatge had long, curly, blond hair, was smooth with the ladies and solid on the court, but his number was what stood out.

Look at some of the famous No. 44s in the history of sports. Syracuse honors its greatest with No. 44, from Jim Brown to Ernie Davis and Floyd Little, all the way to DC, Derrick Coleman. Pistol Pete wore No. 44 in the pros, and Jerry West, Hammerin' Hank, Willie McCovey and Reggie Jackson all donned the number.

To me, though, there was one reason to rock the double-fours: Hank the Bank.

"Get up, Hank. ... Someone help him up!"

Those are the words I remember saying frantically to the TV as I watched the footage. Basketball practice was over, and we had just pulled up to my house. I raced inside and, without a shower, headed down the hallway to my brother Gregg's room. Gregg, who had turned 18 the day before, was out with his friends, and that allowed me to use his room as my personal basketball-viewing palace. I was a hoops nut who had to watch the greatest, fastest basketball show on Earth run up and down the Gersten Pavilion court before it headed off to the NCAA tournament.

Loyola Marymount had a cult following during that 1989-90 season. The players wore T-shirts that read "Run the System," a motto that former Lakers coach Paul Westhead used to preach to his players. It entailed a fast, furious 94 feet, get a shot in seven seconds or less, and then press -- not to slow you down but to speed you up.

It was different. It was about conditioning and 3-point shooting. It was about Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. I tried never to miss a televised game.

The previous summer, I had met Gathers and Kimble at Cal State Northridge, where they were playing pickup ball with a bunch of counselors at the Dana Pump Basketball Camp. Earlier in the summer, I had played against a high school football/basketball star from Long Beach Poly named Willie McGinest, who was the biggest, baddest power forward in SoCal. Before I met Gathers, McGinest was the finest physical specimen I had seen playing basketball.

Gathers was two inches taller and equally as strong as the future NFL Pro Bowler. And LMU guys could run all day because of their style and conditioning program. Gathers was not really skilled, rarely dribbled and seemed a little like a football player playing basketball. But he could run, catch, dunk and put back any miss he might have thrown up there. He led Division I in both scoring and rebounding. Unreal.

High-top fade, No. 44 jersey, chiseled arms, ridiculous speed and a big, cool smile. Picture Tyler Hansbrough's energy in a smaller, more athletic body.

Yes, it's safe to say Hank the Bank left an impression on me when I was 13.

So watching him being carted off the floor on that awful day -- convulsing and eventually dying of a heart-muscle disorder after an alley-oop against Portland in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament -- it made me wonder how a man could be so strong one moment and lifeless another.

It was March 4, 1990, and I'll never forget it. I still have my copy of the National Sports Daily with Gathers lying lifeless on the floor on its cover. Has it really been 20 years?

After Gathers died, it just seemed right to keep Loyola Marymount close to home during the NCAA tourney that followed, albeit as an 11-seed. The Lions played New Mexico State in the first round at the Long Beach Arena. The team formerly known for crazy scores against U.S. International had become America's team overnight.

Long Beach Arena is not known for much. There are whales painted on its outer walls, and although it houses the circus and plenty of trade shows, it is best known for being next to the Queen Mary. My father was an assistant coach at Long Beach State in the early '80s. The arena was where "The Beach" played before moving on campus and eventually into the Pyramid.

I knew the place like I knew my own living room. With the exception of when Fresno State and coach Boyd Grant came to town (the Red Wave was an amazing fan base), and when Jerry "Tark the Shark" Tarkanian brought the Runnin' Rebels into his old digs (UNLV used to bring thousands to every road game), Long Beach Arena was normally quite empty during my run as a ball boy for the Tex Winter-coached, Craig Hodges-led 49ers. From the fastest elevator to the easiest way to cut through the bleachers, my brother, sister and I were in and out of the arena and in and out of trouble.

Fourteen days after Gathers' death, the whales still covered the outside walls, but the interior was something out of a movie. Somewhere in between a high school pep rally and a makeshift memorial, it seemed as though posters, signs and No. 44 jerseys draped every inch of the arena's corridor. Although Arizona was the No. 2 seed with thousands of local fans, this "neutral site" might as well have been in Marina del Rey, the home of LMU.

When the Lions entered the floor, a thunderous roar was let out. But while the LMU players went through their warm-ups with those maroon and blue shooting shirts flopping in the air, all eyes were on Bo Kimble, Gathers' best friend.

Most people just jumped on the Hank and Bo bandwagon at LMU. When they were both freshmen at USC, along with former Orange County star Tom Lewis, they nearly won the Pac-10. Stan Morrison was the Trojans' coach and they were loaded, and when Morrison was let go and George Raveling was brought in, Lewis went to Pepperdine and Kimble and Gathers went to LMU.

Westhead was there waiting, and with UCLA transfer Corey Gaines, the Lions made an NCAA tournament run to the second round in 1988 before losing to North Carolina. During the duo's junior year, they missed Gaines' leadership. Although there was a good group of talent alongside Gathers and Kimble, the Lions were handled easily by Arkansas in the first round.

But the Lions had a team for the ages in 1990. They had a prolific scorer in Kimble, a tenacious rebounder in Gathers, a lights-out shooter in Jeff Fryer. They had another Orange County product in Tom "The Human Bruise" Peabody. They had Per Stumer, a Swede could hit a 3 here or there or anywhere. And they had freshman Terrell Lowery, who provided instant offense off the bench. It was a complete team that was easy to love.

How did they play so fast and win? A perfect example of their style was when they were without Gathers during a game at Oregon State earlier in the season. The Beavers had consensus All-American Gary Payton go for 48 points and 10 assists, but still lost. OSU had 66 points at the half, then simply ran out of gas. Kimble finished with 53 points and 12 boards, and Fryer had 22 on five 3s. What looked like a layup drill in the first half became a testament to conditioning in the second.

LMU nearly did the same when Gathers scored 48 against LSU the same season. Dale Brown's Tigers had Stanley Roberts, Chris Jackson and some guy named Shaquille O'Neal. LSU scored 72 points in the first half, then needed overtime to beat LMU 148-141. Fryer, Kimble and Lowery made 16 of 39 shots from 3, and Gathers had 48 and 13. Meanwhile, Shaq had a triple-double with 20 points, 24 boards and 12 blocks. If you have seen tape of this game, you know it is unlike anything you have ever watched on a basketball floor.

Let's skip to March. My favorite moment in the NCAA tournament was when Kimble went to the line for the first time in that opening game against New Mexico State. Kimble did this weird thing with his shoulders before he shot a free throw. It was as if he shrugged them three times as he dribbled, then pushed them down violently before he shot. Whatever it was, it worked. He never seemed to miss a free shot.

After Kimble dribbled with his right hand during his first free throw of the game, he suddenly switched to his left. If you were an LMU fan, you knew that Gathers shot free throws left-handed (despite the fact that he was right-handed) in an effort to make more. The ball seemed stuck in the air as Kimble floated it toward the basket.

I was just under the opposite basket, and I watched the net pop as the ball went in. Kimble pointed to the sky and stuck up double-fours, and the entire arena erupted. With Arizona, Alabama, Michigan and even New Mexico State fans holding up double-fours, the game somehow went on, without a dry eye in the place. Kimble had 45 points, 18 rebounds and went 6-for-6 from the line, but it was the first total that everyone will remember. The dream began with Loyola Marymount beating 6-seed New Mexico State by 19.

Kimble also made his first free throw with his left hand against Michigan in the second round and finished with 37 points. Fryer was 11-of-15 from the 3-point line and had 41 as LMU beat the defending national champs by 34 points. 149-115, LMU over mighty Michigan -- and yes, that really was the score. Like Oregon State, the Wolverines tried to run with LMU. Instead, they got run over. Michigan had six future NBA players, scored 115 points and was humiliated on the scoreboard. It ran the system, and it was truly a sight to behold.

After surviving a free throw-less, 62-60 win in the Sweet 16 over upstart Alabama, who tried to slow the system, the Lions ran into top-seeded UNLV, which was a whole different animal. The Runnin' Rebs also had been slowed down in that Oakland regional, in their case by upset-minded Ball State in a stunningly close 69-67 win. But Vegas got back to its usual dominant self against LMU in the Elite Eight. Although Kimble made his left-handed free throw, the dream ended with a 131-101 loss to UNLV, the same 30-point margin the Rebs hung on Duke to win the tournament a week later.

Even after 20 years, the images are indelible. Gathers' massive grip on my hand when we first met. His body lying on the floor where he was a king. The stretcher. The funeral. The tears. Kimble, Fryer, Peabody, Stumer, Lowery and Westhead. The tourney run, the magic and the system.

But nothing I have seen before or since compares to that first free throw that Kimble made against New Mexico State. Left-handed. For Hank the Bank. Every March 4, I look at the 44 jerseys on my wall, from Tustin High to Notre Dame to Oklahoma State to Israel and Russia and even the USBL. I always have worn 44 with pride. I loved that number, that team, that story.

Hank the Bank, rest in peace.

Doug Gottlieb is a college basketball analyst for ESPN and a contributor to ESPN.com. "The Doug Gottlieb Show" can be heard weekdays from 4 to 7 p.m. ET on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com.