The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1190316
basketball league practices. He'll dribble the ball off his foot, miss a mid-range jumper on occasion and groan when his back tightens up. The 6-11, All-ACC forward can practically hear the eye rolls from his waist-high legacies. "Really, dad?" they have often said. "You played basketball? In the NBA?" "They aren't all that impressed," Gugliotta admitted. Yes, kids, he did. And he played it exceptionally well, enough to score almost 10,000 points and grab more than 5,500 rebounds over the course of 13 years in the league with seven different franchises. Since he retired in 2005, Gugliotta has lived in Atlanta's Buck- head neighborhood with his wife, Keri, and their two young sons. His older daughter, 22-year-old Greer, is near graduation from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. "I feel like it's an ordinary life, which is good," Gugliotta said. "I was able to play basketball for a long time, which was always my dream. And I was able to make a living at it, which is pretty special and rare. But I don't see that as some kind of great feat on my part. All I ever wanted to do was play high-level college basketball, and I was able to achieve that. "There were a lot of people who helped me do it, who helped me get there, who allowed me to reach that dream." At the top of that list is the late Jim Val- vano, the coach who was friends with Gug- liotta's father, Frank Gugliotta Sr., a leg- endary high school coach on Long Island, N.Y. While the head coach at Iona, Valvano passed on taking Gugliotta's older brothers, Frank Jr. and Charlie, who both played at smaller schools. Valvano, however, thought Tom might one day help the Wolfpack. After a year, in which Gugliotta barely left the bench, first because of a knee injury and second because he was trying to catch up, the Wolfpack coach wasn't so sure, not-so-subtly suggesting that the skinny young player who had played just 121 minutes and scored 56 points find a smaller school where he might have a chance to play more. It had been a rough year on Gugliotta, whose dad died after a short bout with lung cancer on the Wolfpack's first day of practice. Valvano thought maybe playing at a different school would take his mind off everything he had been through. "I had no idea why my dad wanted me to play for Coach V," Gugliotta said. "And I never got to ask him because he died when I was 18. But looking back on it, I understand. Coach V coached basketball, but he also coached life skills, like determination and dreaming and goal-setting. "Every day was positive, even if something awful happened the day before. That's a great lesson for anybody." Instead of leaving, Gugliotta took Valva- no's suggestion as a challenge. He dedicated himself to getting stronger and improving every phase of his game. He was a maniac in the weight room, and the ultimate competitor on the court. He checked off every entry in the long list Valvano's coaching staff gave him of things he needed to improve. And then some. In the fourth and fifth games of his sopho- more season, against Ohio State and Pitts- burgh, he outplayed everyone on the court and won Most Valuable Player honors at the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions in Charlotte. That launched Gugliotta's all-star college career with the Wolfpack, in which he earned first-team All-ACC honors as a senior and made himself into one of college basketball's top power forwards. Playing his final two seasons under new head coach Les Robinson, Gugliotta averaged nearly a double-double as a junior and senior. An All-Star In Life After A Fruitful Playing Career, Tom Gugliotta Has Settled Into Being A Father And Philanthropist Tom Gugliotta Basketball (1989-92) Age: 49 Living: Atlanta Occupation: Retired Did You Know? Gugliotta played for seven different NBA teams from 1992-2005 and appeared in 763 games while averag- ing 13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. JANUARY 2020 ■ 25 During a 13-year NBA career, Gugliotta scored 9,895 points, grabbed 5,589 rebounds, had 2,140 assists and made 1,079 steals. He was named an NBA All-Star in 1997. PHOTO BY SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/GETTY IMAGES