Thursday, July 11, 2002
Truck series star was Iverson teammate
Gaughan played for Georgetown
By Tom Groeschen tgroeschen@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Brendan Gaughan wears a Georgetown cap.
(Joseph Fuqua II photo)
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Brendan Gaughan is the only NASCAR driver who once guarded Allen Iverson for a living.
You've heard of Iverson. You probably haven't heard of Gaughan (pronounced “Gone”), the top rookie on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series that visits Kentucky Speedway this weekend.
“People ask how a guy goes from playing with Allen Iverson (at Georgetown) to driving in NASCAR,” Gaughan said Wednesday. “Actually, it's the other way around.”
Gaughan, who turned 27 Wednesday, began driving as a youth in the deserts of his native Las Vegas.
“You've heard of the Baja 1,000?” he said. “My dad raced in that.”
Dad is Michael Gaughan, who owns and operates four Vegas hotels/casinos. That connection helped send Brendan to play basketball at Georgetown in Washington, D.C.
John Thompson, the former Georgetown coach, has long been a regular in Vegas. His friendship with Michael Gaughan and others eventually led to Brendan Gaughan enrolling at Georgetown, where in the mid-1990s he was the personal nightmare of one Allen Iverson.
“Coach Thompson loves Vegas, and he knew my dad and some other friends,” Gaughan said. “He wanted players who would do what he said. My job was to guard Allen, and that's all I did.”
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Gaughan walked on to the Georgetown football team as a place-kicker, then was hand-picked by Thompson to shadow Iverson in basketball practice.
“My job was to hit him as hard as I could, beat him up, make him work,” Gaughan said. “It was all to help make Allen better.”
Iverson stayed at Georgetown for two seasons. Gaughan jokingly claims he hastened Iverson's departure to the NBA, but Iverson also made him pay.
“He literally broke my ankle once on one of his crossovers (dribbles),” Gaughan said. “I played on that for 2 1/2more years, but I didn't say anything. I loved being on that team.”
Gaughan still wears a Georgetown hat daily: “I've got three of them.”
Thompson, who left Georgetown in 1999 and now is a TV/radio broadcaster, couldn't be reached for comment. But he recently told the Kansas City Star he had fond memories of Gaughan.
“He did a fantastic job helping me with Allen Iverson,” Thompson said. “Nobody is quick enough to play Allen, but Brendan was physical. I'd tell him to bang him around. He really contributed by not being afraid and by bumping and pushing and trying to do little things to aggravate Allen.
“Allen would get mad at him, and I would fuss at Brendan and tell him to stop, but I'd whisper to him, "Keep on doing it.'”
Gaughan got into 40 games from 1994-96. He scored only five career points but played on two Big East champions and an NCAA Elite Eight team.
Even now, his Georgetown instincts kick in. While visiting the Enquirer for an interview Wednesday, he recoiled at the sight of a Syracuse sticker — Georgetown's arch enemy — on a nearby desk.
He also wants more information on the latest Iverson story out of Philadelphia. Police say they have enough evidence to arrest Iverson on charges that, on July3, he entered a home with a gun and threatened two men while looking for his wife.
“That's not Allen,” Gaughan said. “He can't fight.”
Iverson once wanted to, at least with Gaughan.
“He hated me on the court,” Gaughan said. “But we were friends off the court. He's one of the nicest, brightest guys I've ever been around. You have to know him.”
Gaughan ranks 10th in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks season standings and has won one race (Texas). He won the past two season championships on the Winston West Series, a circuit that runs Winston Cup-style cars on the West Coast.
“I'd like to get to Winston Cup,” Gaughan said. “I'm still young enough to make a run at that. My contract runs another year in the Truck series, and hopefully we can challenge for a championship.”
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Truck series star was Iverson teammate
