Gyasi Cline-Heard played for Penn State from 1997-2001. He was part of the memorable Sweet 16 NCAA tournament run in 2001 and two NIT Final Fours at Madison Square Garden.
He sat down this week with Nittany Sports Now to talk of his PSU playing career, his professional days, his 10-year incarceration and now being a manager of the successful Congregate Kitchen & Lounge in Houston, Texas.
Heard for his career at Penn State averaged a solid 8.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.
If it wasn’t for his last second buzzer-beater in the first round of the 2001 Big Ten Tournament against Michigan, PSU would have never received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Advancing to the second round quarterfinal against Michigan State, PSU upset the No. 2 team in the country 65-63 to cement their invitation to March Madness.
Heard remembers the buzzer beater more than a quarter century later.
“Really, it was thanks to Brandon (Watkins) because he airballed the shot,” he said. “It was really an assist. I will give him that. It was a great assist.”
Then onto the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed where Penn State knocked off No. 10 seed Providence in the first round, 69-59, inside the Super Dome in New Orleans. Then in one of the most memorable games in Penn State basketball history, they shocked the No. 2 seed Tar Heels of North Carolina, 82-74, to advance to the Sweet Sixteen inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta against No. 11 seed Temple. PSU loss to John Chaney’s Owls, 84-72, but Penn State’s Sweet Sixteen appearance was their first since 1955 and they haven’t been there since.
“It’s something that you just dream about and for it to finally happen it was just surreal at the time but I just made sure I took advantage of every opportunity, soaking in all the events and the atmosphere and we had a great team of guys that just fit on the court together when we were playing, and just being down there and experiencing that because we were in New Orleans when it was St. Patrick’s Day…so I don’t remember if it was after one of our games or after one of our practices, but we were going back and there was a firetruck and I just climbed on the firetruck and we were all on the firetruck and throwing beads and stuff…it was wild man, a lot of fun. The fans were amazing and then coming back to the fans on campus, it was amazing.”
The 6′-8″ power forward then played ten years of professional ball with Uruguay being his most memorable, favorite country to play in.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“In a little town called Salto, I had so much fun down there, they loved the team and the whole city rallied around it, it was a small gym that I don’t even think they had AC, it was just an older gym, after about a day, I fell in love with the people and the town and I had the time of my life. There’s nothing really to do, it was just basketball, people and family, it was just a love down there, it was peaceful.”
When Cline-Heard’s professional days were over, he moved back to The States to Trinity, Florida. He found himself doing a lot of partying and living life in the fast lane. He got affiliated with people involved in the drug world and ended up serving 10 years in federal prison.
“I was the guy that just knew everybody, people that went to school with me know that I party hard but I play hard, doing a lot of partying, it’s just one of those things that just escalated and I was reckless, out-of-control, but with everything it’s something that taught me so much about myself and just people in general…it’s hard for me to say this because I feel everything I’ve done happens for a reason…I’m proof of what the justice system can do to you…but I’m better for it. I’m here. I have a great family and living life again.”
Heard is now currently finishing writing a crime drama series with a little bit about his experience but with a lot of fiction in it. His real passion, though, is to write a sci-fi novel because Heard claims he is a “Sci-Fi nerd.”
With his passion for writing and now running a successful restaurant, Cline-Heard is in a great place in life. He doesn’t watch or follow much basketball and now makes sure to look after his parents.
You can watch the full interview with Gyasi Cline-Heard down below.
