Gary McKnight Finding life beyond basketball

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Dec. 22, 1998 | 9:29 a.m.

Wins, losses don't mean as much for coach battling cancer

Mater Dei head coach Gary McKnight was not a happy camper following Monday afternoon's surprising 69-67 overtime loss to Fresno Edison at Durango High School and for good reason.

His young team had blown a double-digit lead down the stretch and finished with 22 turnovers, something almost unheard of for the Monarchs (8-2). Afterward, he gave his squad a loud verbal tongue-lashing in the locker room.

Still, for McKnight, something of a prep coaching icon in California after directing Mater Dei to 12 CIF Southern Section titles and three California State titles in 16 years, it was another "good" day.

After undergoing major surgery for cancer two-and-a-half years ago, McKnight no longer measures his days by wins and losses on the basketball court.

"It gave me a whole different look at life," McKnight, 46, and the father of five boys, said. "I'm still a very competitive person, but every day now is a good day for me."

It was in June of 1996 that McKnight, at the urging of wife Judy, went in for a complete physical that included getting a chest X-ray.

"I don't know why she wanted me to do it," joked McKnight, who was battling a weight program (he recently has lost 53 pounds on a diet). "I'm a perfect specimen. But she saved my life."

A couple of hours after his exam McKnight received a call from his doctor.

"He said, 'We found something on your chest. Were you wearing a medal?,' " McKnight recalled. "I said no. He said it might be scar tissue, but that they wanted to do more tests. ... It's not the kind of call you want to get."

McKnight then went in to have a biopsy performed.

"After the biopsy, the doctor said it looked non-malignant," McKnight said. "So I felt pretty good."

Three days later came the bad news.

"I went in to see the surgeon because they were going to take it out no matter what," McKnight said. "That's the time he told me it was not only cancer, but that it was also caused by asbestos."

McKnight had no idea when he was exposed to the highly toxic material.

"They said it could have developed over a 10- or 15-year period," he said. "It's a real slow-growing cancer, but it's really deadly. It's something you just breath in. They said it could have been anywhere. Some old gym, walking down the street while they were tearing an old building down, anywhere. It went into my (chest) cavity."

The next day McKnight was undergoing surgery to remove the tumor.

"It wasn't a thing where I wanted to wait around and stress out over it," he said. "We just went and did it. He took out huge margins around the tumor and the margins came back clean. I lost 2 1/2 ribs. They sent the samples to the City of Hope (in Duarte, Calif.) and everything came back clean."

And that's the way things have remained for McKnight the past 2 1/2 years. He goes in for chest X-rays every three months and has a CAT-scan done every six months. When he is clean for five years, he'll be considered cured.

"They say it's looking really good," McKnight said. "My cancer is the type that radiation and chemotherapy doesn't work on. You either cut it or you don't make it. As the years go on, things are looking better and better. You just try and stay real positive. About a week before the next test, you begin to get a little nervous again."

While in the hospital in his hometown of Mission Viejo, Calif., McKnight received more than 400 letters from friends and admirers.

"It was very touching," he said. "The power of prayer was big. I keep a cross in my pocket to this day. I'm really a thankful person. Maybe the good Lord was just trying to wake me up a little bit to try and put things in perspective."