The University of Richmond is considering ways to recognize the contributions of longtime official basketball scorer Bob Gates, who recently died at age 81.

Mr. Gates became part of the Spiders' stats crew in 1954 and began as UR's official scorer when the Robins Center opened in 1972. He retired from that job in 2003. Mr. Gates was not a UR alum, though he often attended Spiders games as a youth. Mr. Gates was invited to join the Richmond stats crew by former UR basketball coach Les Hooker, a friend through softball competition.

Mr. Gates' payment through his decades of service: five season tickets per year. Among those who called UR to express condolences was John Beilein, the former UR coach now at Michigan. Steve Gates, Mr. Gates' son, has been part of the UR stats crew for 32 years.

Mr. Gates, who worked 27 years for Reynolds Metals, for a decade was the official scorer of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

John Moreau, who was a Division I basketball official for 32 years, delivered the eulogy at Mr. Gates' funeral last Friday at Derbyshire Baptist Church. Moreau emphasized Mr. Gates' devotion to college basketball and the attention to detail that made him one of officials' favorite scorers.

-- John O'Connor