Federal agency issues recall for indoor basketball hoop that killed Granger teenager
GRANGER — A commercial wall-mounted basketball hoop was recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission this week, four years after the Goalsetter Systems hoop fell and killed Granger teenager Nolan Gerwels while he was playing in his house.
Nolan was 14 years old when he died in June 2018. and his family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the companies that manufactured and installed the hoop. The hoop fell out of a wall in the Granger family’s home, landing on Nolan’s head, abdomen, legs and other body parts, according to the lawsuit. He’d been teaching one of his younger sisters how to play basketball on an indoor court.
In a press release announcing the recall of approximately 18,000 wall-mounted basketball hoops made by the Evansville-based company, the CPSC cited Nolan's death as a reason for the move, saying the hoops "can unexpectedly detach from the wall and fall to the ground. This poses a serious impact injury hazard and risk of death to consumers."
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In addition to Nolan Gerwels' death, the CPSC said it has received four reports of injuries caused by the hoops falling out of walls since 2018. The release states costumers should have the hoops removed or have Goalsetter install "an additional safety bracket" for free.
Charles Rice, an attorney representing the Gerwels family in the suit, said the recall's offer to install the safety bracket is an admission by Goalsetter that the product that killed Nolan was unsafe.
"This determination by the CPSC proves what we've been alleging all along, and there's certainly an admission by Goalsetter that they had the ability to prevent Nolan's death by having a failsafe," Rice said.
An attorney representing Goalsetter and its parent company, Escalade Sports, did not return a phone call from reporters seeking comment on the recall. Ben Tremont, general manger of Escalade, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
How the CPSC's announcement affects the ongoing lawsuit is unclear, because actions by certain federal oversight agencies are not considered admissible in litigation. However, the case is ongoing and is scheduled to go to trial in October 2023. Other defendants named in the complaint are Dick's Sporting Goods, Century Builders and its president, James Sieradzki, along with EW Construction and its president, Eric White.
The complaint accuses Dick’s and Goalsetter for failing to include proper instructions for installing the system. It also alleges that the system was improperly installed by Century Builders and EW Construction.
The complaint states the unit — including a hoop, backboard and mounting system — weighed at least 260 pounds and was installed using six 2-inch lag screws that went into only the drywall and particle board, which was behind the drywall. It states that only part of each of the screws reached the particle board.
Nolan was remembered earlier this year by members of the Marian High School basketball team who attended school and participated in AAU games with the 14-year-old before he died.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Consumer protection agency recalls hoop that killed Granger teen
