CCHS boys varsity basketball point guard La’neric Gill, a senior, plays basketball in Clarke Central High School Competition Gym. Gill has played basketball for as long as he can remember, but when his father passed away in 2022, his reason for playing changed dramatically. “Lately, I think he’s been trying to play for (his dad). At first, he was a little upset and you could kind of see that in (his) play,” boys varsity basketball head coach Stefan Smith said. “As time’s (gone) on, he’s understanding, ‘I got to do this for my pops,’ and he says that sometimes.” Photo by Aza Khan
CCHS boys varsity basketball point guard La’neric Gill, a senior, has stepped up his dedication for his final high school basketball season in memory of his father.
When La’neric Gill walked into his grandmother’s home in middle school, he met his father for the first time.
Little did Gill know that he was meeting an Athens basketball legend.
Gill, now a senior, started as a point guard for the Region 8-AAAAA Champion Gladiators throughout the 2023-24 basketball season and was named to the All-Region team in the process.
Gill has played basketball since he was five years old and the sport has always been something he loved, but only this year did he cement his status as one of the team’s strongest players. Gill’s father, Marvin Nash, was the driving force behind his newfound stardom.
“I had to change the way I am because of him. I was trying to meet his goals in high school,” Gill said. “He was the best player that came out of Cedar Shoals (with) 2000+ points. I got the plaque at home.”
Nash wasn’t just any player who came from CSHS. Nash, a Class of 1989 alumnus, to this day, is still CSHS’s top-scoring player with 2,457 points. CSHS English department chair and Class of 1990 alumnus Bryan Moore viewed Nash as a legend in high school.
“(Nash) was like (the) Michael Jordan or LeBron James of Athens at the time,” Moore said. “He just had a natural ability and a high basketball IQ that (you) just hadn’t seen in many other players.”
CCHS boys varsity basketball head coach and Class of 1991 alumnus Dr. Stefan Smith also knew Nash from high school, but this time as an opponent. Although they didn’t play together, Smith got to know Nash’s playing style and sees similarities in Gill.
“La’neric has the same type of showmanship that (Nash) had, he was a showman too,” Smith said. “If they told Marvin ‘We want a slam,’ he gonna go get you a slam. They say, Marvin, ‘We want a three,’ Marvin gonna go get you a three. La’neric has that showman in him.”
Upon meeting his dad, Gill was unaware of Nash’s significance in basketball. Learning more about his father’s legend was important to Gill in how he has approached the game.
“He showed me how to shoot (and) get my jump shot better,” Gill said. “(It) was a great feeling seeing how good (my dad) was and (seeing) my genes. Knowing that I had a dad that plays the same sport as me, that was legit, that was fye.”
“He showed me how to shoot (and) get my jump shot better. (It) was a great feeling seeing how good (my dad) was and (seeing) my genes. Knowing that I had a dad that plays the same sport as me, that was legit, that was fye.”
— La’neric Gill,
CCHS boys varsity basketball point guard
But, just shortly after first meeting his father, the source of Gill’s inspiration was suddenly cut short.
On Aug. 22, 2022, Nash died in a car crash.
Just four months after his father’s passing, the 2022-23 basketball season arrived, and it was Gill’s first year on the varsity team. He didn’t expect his father’s death to impact his play as much as it did.
“(That season) was hard, very hard. I played very well here and there but I got mad easily,” Gill said. “(I was) a quiet guy (and) I wasn’t saying nothing.”
Gill wasn’t the only one to see the struggle he was facing.
Although the 2022-23 season was Smith’s first season directly coaching Gill, he had known Gill for five years prior and viewed that season as his weakest point.
“He didn’t lift weights and he didn’t like (to) do the extra work that you need to do. Everything always came easy to him. He was always one of the best kids playing (and) he always was smart on the basketball floor, more than a lot of people,” Smith said. “When he got (to varsity) last year, it was a shock to him.”
However, Gill decided to not let his father’s memory die with him. Gill would revive that memory through his own play.
Although their time knowing each other was short, the impact Nash left on Gill was lasting. In the following season, Smith saw an increase in effort from Gill and watched him start to dedicate his time on the court to his father.
“He’s practicing harder. He’s doing the things that you need to do in order to be successful. (He’s) getting to practice on time, working harder in the drills, he’s participating more and being more cooperative,” Smith said. “He’s averaging more points, more assists, looking for assists (and) making plans. He’s being a true point guard.”
CCHS boys varsity basketball point guard La’neric Gill, a senior, receives a plaque containing his jersey in the Clarke Central High School Competition Gym. Gill has played basketball for as long as he can remember, but when his father passed away in 2022, his reason for playing changed dramatically. “Lately, I think he’s been trying to play for (his dad). At first, he was a little upset and you could kind of see that in (his) play,” boys varsity basketball head coach Stefan Smith said. “As time’s (gone) on, he’s understanding, ‘I got to do this for my pops,’ and he says that sometimes.” Photo by Aza Khan
Gill had changed his ways, and everyone could see it, even himself. His new approach turned him into one of the team’s top scorers in most games, including a team-leading 28 points in the Region 8-AAAAA tournament semifinal against Heritage High School on Feb. 14.
“I score way more points and I’m being a leader on the team. (My dad) was a leader on his team. He used to play every position,” Gill said. “A leader on the court keeps everybody together when it comes down to the last-second shot — that’s what I do.”
His teammates see this change, too. CCHS varsity basketball shooting guard Marcus Gillespie, a junior, was not only teammates with Gill for CCHS but also played alongside him on several travel ball teams.
“He’s stepped up to where we don’t have to say ‘We need you to do this and that’ That’s just what he does now. He just has natural instincts (to) know when it’s his turn (and) when it’s time for him to do what he needs to do. He always rises up to expectations,” Gillespie said.
But rather than just playing for his father Gill has now, at the end of his high school career, done what he has longed to do ever since Aug. 22, 2022: play like his father.
“When he was in high school, they used to be like, ‘We want a three, we want a dunk, Marvin Nash.’ So, if they are like, ‘Nuke, we want a three,’ I’m getting (it) the same way he did, but he’s giving them a dunk, basically when we need a three ima get it for us,” Gill said.
