Temple University Athletics
Temple University Mourns the Passing of Men’s Basketball Great Mik Kilgore
11.2.18 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – Mik Kilgore, who starred with the Temple men's basketball team from 1988 through 1992 and returned 25 years later to earn his bachelor's degree, passed away Friday morning due to a heart attack. He was 48.
"It is a very sad day for Temple University and Temple Basketball," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy. "Mik coming back to get his degree was a great Temple story and a lot of people shared in his success. He deserved a lot of credit for getting that degree and he was on his way to using it well with his new job at Girard College. He had made a great impression on a lot of people with his spirit and his hard work. Somebody wanting to make a difference in life and I think he was doing all of that until tragically he lost his life."
Mr. Kilgore was a standout high school player under Temple graduate and Philadelphia coaching legend Joey Goldenberg at West Philadelphia High. As a senior he averaged 17.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in earning Public League Player of the Year from the Markward Club.
Before arriving at Temple, Mr. Kilgore earned the Sonny Hill Mr. Basketball Award for representing the program as a player, student and citizen while playing in the league during the summer of 1988.
"He was a great person. A good guy who did not have a mean bone in his body," said Temple associate head coach and former teammate of Mr. Kilgore's, Aaron McKie. "Our friendship goes all the way back to high school. He was a big brother to me along with Craig White and John Hardnett. They were my introduction to how things work in the basketball environment through the times we played for the Diamond Medics in the Sonny Hill Summer League. All of those guys who watched over me and took care of me have now passed away.
We all take for granted the simple things in life like talking and laughing together. I got the opportunity to do that with Mik over the last five years. I watched him fall in life and then pick himself up with graduation and working with kids, something he loved to do. What breaks my heart is that now he is not going to be able to taste victory from the fruits of his labor. I will truly miss him."
At Temple, Mr. Kilgore started all 124 games during his four-year career under Hall of Fame head coach John Chaney. A 6-9 forward/guard, he scored 1,471 points, pulled down 627 rebounds, dished 380 assists and made 148 steals for his career. His Temple teams won 79 games and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments, including the 1991 Elite Eight.
Mr. Kilgore earned third team All-Atlantic 10 honors during his senior year in 1991-92 when he led the Owls in scoring with a 14.5 average, one of three seasons averaging in double figures. A two-time second team all-Big 5 performer, he was the team's second leading scorer on the 1991 Elite Eight squad with a 14.0 scoring average.
Following his Temple playing days, the Philadelphia native traveled the globe, playing professional basketball in Italy, France, Taiwan, and Venezuela. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1998. In May of 2017, Mr. Kilgore earned his undergraduate degree from Temple, returning to school to fulfill a dream and a promise to his coach.
"I was always a stickler for guys getting their degrees from my team," said Chaney. "I always felt when you start anything that you should finish it. You should find some way to overcome.
Mik did not graduate from Temple when he ended his career. Many years later I was invited to come to a get together of former players and it was there that Mik promised that he would come back and get his degree, and then he finally did. He called me on the phone and said. 'Coach, I finally got my degree and I am going to get my master's. He was working on getting it and then he was hired by Girard College.
He finally finished the race and got a nice job. He was so proud to be working and coaching kids. It is just an irony when you think about it. We work hard. We run hard. We fight hard and finally reach our accomplishments and then life ends. Death is one thing we cannot control. It is so tragic.
In the back of my mind I will always see him with a smile on his face."
Mr. Kilgore is survived by his parents, Jacqueline and Melvin Kilgore, his two brothers Melvin, Jr., and Marvin Kilgore, his seven nieces and nephews, eight aunts and uncles and very close friends.
Funeral services have not been finalized.
"It is a very sad day for Temple University and Temple Basketball," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy. "Mik coming back to get his degree was a great Temple story and a lot of people shared in his success. He deserved a lot of credit for getting that degree and he was on his way to using it well with his new job at Girard College. He had made a great impression on a lot of people with his spirit and his hard work. Somebody wanting to make a difference in life and I think he was doing all of that until tragically he lost his life."
Mr. Kilgore was a standout high school player under Temple graduate and Philadelphia coaching legend Joey Goldenberg at West Philadelphia High. As a senior he averaged 17.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in earning Public League Player of the Year from the Markward Club.
Before arriving at Temple, Mr. Kilgore earned the Sonny Hill Mr. Basketball Award for representing the program as a player, student and citizen while playing in the league during the summer of 1988.
"He was a great person. A good guy who did not have a mean bone in his body," said Temple associate head coach and former teammate of Mr. Kilgore's, Aaron McKie. "Our friendship goes all the way back to high school. He was a big brother to me along with Craig White and John Hardnett. They were my introduction to how things work in the basketball environment through the times we played for the Diamond Medics in the Sonny Hill Summer League. All of those guys who watched over me and took care of me have now passed away.
We all take for granted the simple things in life like talking and laughing together. I got the opportunity to do that with Mik over the last five years. I watched him fall in life and then pick himself up with graduation and working with kids, something he loved to do. What breaks my heart is that now he is not going to be able to taste victory from the fruits of his labor. I will truly miss him."
At Temple, Mr. Kilgore started all 124 games during his four-year career under Hall of Fame head coach John Chaney. A 6-9 forward/guard, he scored 1,471 points, pulled down 627 rebounds, dished 380 assists and made 148 steals for his career. His Temple teams won 79 games and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments, including the 1991 Elite Eight.
Mr. Kilgore earned third team All-Atlantic 10 honors during his senior year in 1991-92 when he led the Owls in scoring with a 14.5 average, one of three seasons averaging in double figures. A two-time second team all-Big 5 performer, he was the team's second leading scorer on the 1991 Elite Eight squad with a 14.0 scoring average.
Following his Temple playing days, the Philadelphia native traveled the globe, playing professional basketball in Italy, France, Taiwan, and Venezuela. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1998. In May of 2017, Mr. Kilgore earned his undergraduate degree from Temple, returning to school to fulfill a dream and a promise to his coach.
"I was always a stickler for guys getting their degrees from my team," said Chaney. "I always felt when you start anything that you should finish it. You should find some way to overcome.
Mik did not graduate from Temple when he ended his career. Many years later I was invited to come to a get together of former players and it was there that Mik promised that he would come back and get his degree, and then he finally did. He called me on the phone and said. 'Coach, I finally got my degree and I am going to get my master's. He was working on getting it and then he was hired by Girard College.
He finally finished the race and got a nice job. He was so proud to be working and coaching kids. It is just an irony when you think about it. We work hard. We run hard. We fight hard and finally reach our accomplishments and then life ends. Death is one thing we cannot control. It is so tragic.
In the back of my mind I will always see him with a smile on his face."
Mr. Kilgore is survived by his parents, Jacqueline and Melvin Kilgore, his two brothers Melvin, Jr., and Marvin Kilgore, his seven nieces and nephews, eight aunts and uncles and very close friends.
Funeral services have not been finalized.
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