A LONG JOURNEY TO FAME\I grew up with a basketball in my hand,' Gail Goodrich says.

Byline: Eric Sondheimer Daily News Deputy Sports Editor 

When Gail Goodrich was a 5-foot-1, 99-pound sophomore at Poly High School in Sun Valley, there probably wasn't a human alive who thought one day he'd be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. But last month, Goodrich received the prestigious honor.

Now 52 and living in Greenwich, Conn., Goodrich intends to fly in his former Poly basketball coach, Nelson Burton, for the induction ceremony on May 6 in Springfield, Mass.

"I'm excited as us 77-year-olds can get," Burton said from his home in Medford, Ore.

How Goodrich evolved from a tiny left-handed guard at Poly High into a UCLA All-American and All-Pro with the Lakers is an inspiring story.

"I grew up with a basketball in my hand," he said.

He learned to play on a hoop in the backyard of his North Hollywood home in the 1950s. He'd spend hours there, learning from his father, a former USC team captain.

"I guess I had a dream," he said. "There was something inside that kept propelling me to fulfill that dream. Along the way, I had a lot of people who believed in me. As a kid, I played just to have fun. Of course, the more I played, the better I got and the more success I had."

Goodrich, whose number recently became the seventh to be retired by the Lakers, lived four blocks south of Poly. He enrolled in February of 1958 as a midsemester student and played JV baseball.

"His glove was bigger than he was," remembered Doug Michelson, now Valley College's basketball coach and a student at Birmingham High back then. "Their team came in the gym on a rainy day and here was this tiny guy throwing up 30 footers."

By the time basketball season started, Goodrich had grown to 5-4 and was put on the JV team. "He had great fundamentals even at that age," Burton said. "He wasn't strong, but I thought he better get used to playing the bigger guys."

Goodrich's enthusiasm and work ethic, combined with a steady growth spurt, kept him progressing.

"There was not too much organized basketball at that time in the Valley," he said. "When I was at Madison Junior High, I would go over to Burbank, where they had a real organized sports program. When I came to Poly, Coach Burton gave me an opportunity. He saw something. The gym was always open during spring break, Christmas break. I spent an incredible amount of time in the gym at Poly."

Burton later learned that his players were sneaking into the Poly gym on their own.

"One of the guys got a coat hanger and figured out how to slip it through the door," Burton said. "Then they fixed up a light key. I didn't find out until the season was over. Those guys are lawyers, teachers and accountants now. That was a group of sharp guys. Of course, Gail was right there in the middle."

Goodrich grew to 5-8 as a junior and 5-11 as a senior. UCLA coach John Wooden offered him a scholarship before he even played a single game as a senior. Wooden's judgment of talent was right on. He thought if Goodrich kept growing, he'd blossom into a top prospect. Goodrich, who grew up a USC fan, changed his allegiance and put his trust in Wooden.

"Because of my size, there were a lot of questions," he said. "Wooden looked at me and I guess he saw something. He's pretty terrific and a pretty special man, not only from what he taught me on the court but off the court."

Goodrich led Poly to the City Section championship in 1961, played a big role in UCLA's NCAA title in 1965 and helped the Lakers win the NBA championship in 1972. His No. 25 jersey will be retired by the Lakers next season.

He's now a vice president for Santa Monica-based National Golf Properties. He'll never forget his days growing up in the San Fernando Valley and how so many people helped bring out the best in him.

"Yeah, I put myself in those positions (to succeed)," he said. "But there were so many people along the way who helped me out."

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Photo (color) Gail Goodrich, the former UCLA star, is a vice president of National Golf Properties in Westport, Conn. Helen Neafsey / Special to the Daily News