Presented is a 1952 “Tom Gola Most Valuable Player Madison Square Garden Holiday Basketball Festival December 1952 Presented by A. G. Spalding & Bros. Inc.” trophy for the LaSalle Explorers college basketball hero in his sophomore season at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania college. Gola, a Philadelphia native son, had played high school ball at LaSalle High School and stayed in Philly to play at LaSalle University. College basketball was suffering from a cheating scandal in New York City, but Gola led the Explorers to a 1952 NIT National Championship in his freshman year at the old Madison Square Garden in New York. In December 1952, Ned Irish, Madison Square Garden's president, created the Holiday Festival, an early-season tournament, to capitalize on the good feelings that Gola had cultivated there. Gola and LaSalle won that holiday tournament, and Gola was named the event’s MVP. The 7 x 8 x 21-inch trophy stands tall with a gold metal figural statue of a basketball player holding a basketball over his head in his right hand atop a 9½-inch brown wood and gold metal column with a brown wood base. The column features sculpted wood on the sides and the 2¾ x 7¼-inch gold metal plaque with the details of the award as given above. The wood base also includes a 2 x 3 x 5-inch gold metal eagle sculpture with its wings spread wide. This item comes with a LOA from the Tom Gola Estate.

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