North Carolina State University Athletics
CoachGott.com Feature: Tom Gugliotta
8/15/2013 12:00:00 AM
Aug 15, 2013
When Tom Gugliotta arrived on campus at NC State in 1988, the self-proclaimed "gangly" 6-7, 198-lb freshman was set to embark on a mission. After being lightly recruited as a senior at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, N.Y., Gugliotta began his career at State with a chip on his shoulder.
Critics said he didn't belong there. His own friends questioned whether he made the right decision to attend NC State. Despite the whispers that he might have been in over his head, he didn't care. With the added motivation securely placed in his back pocket, Gugliotta set out to prove his doubters wrong.
"Being doubted is the most beautiful motivation anyone could ever have. All it did was fuel me," Gugliotta said.
Gugliotta, by all accounts, was not a heralded recruit. In fact, it took a conversation with Gugliotta's father, Frank, to convince head coach Jim Valvano to even watch his son, let alone offer him a scholarship.
"My father was a high school coach on Long Island for 35 years who had known Coach Valvano for many years from working local camps. Coach Valvano was from Long Island, which is where I'm from," explained Gugliotta.
When it came time for Gugliotta to select a college to attend, he had several mid-major schools recruiting him. In his mind though, he was a high-major player.
"When it came time for me to decide on a college, I only had local schools like Iona, Fairfield and Fordham recruiting me. I appreciated those schools, but I really had a dream of playing big-time college basketball," says Gugliotta.
When Frank Gugliotta picked up the phone to call Coach Valvano, he was determined to at least get Coach Valvano to come watch his son, to see his potential for himself.
"My dad believed in me and called Coach Valvano to vouch for me. He told him that I might need a year or two, but I had the potential to be a pretty good player in the ACC," Gugliotta said.
When Valvano did finally go watch Gugliotta play, Gugliotta did not perform at his best. Gugliotta, displeased with his performance, was certain he had squandered his opportunity.
"When Coach Valvano came to watch me play, I actually had the flu and was very, very sick. Under normal circumstances I never would have even played, but with Coach Valvano there just to watch me, I figured I had to. Needless to say I didn't play very well. I figured I blew my chance at playing at State," Gugliotta remembered.
Despite the poor performance, Coach Valvano saw enough potential to go ahead and pull the trigger anyway, offering Gugliotta a full scholarship.
"Coach Valvano called me up the following week and told me that if I promise to come down and work hard both on the court and in the classroom, I had a free ride. Naturally I quickly got down to Raleigh, North Carolina and signed those scholarship papers before Coach Valvano could change his mind," says Gugliotta with a laugh. With a golden opportunity to play at the ACC level in hand, Gugliotta was determined to make sure Coach Valvano did not regret his decision to bring him to State. While his freshman year stats were somewhat underwhelming, Gugliotta used his first year at State as even more motivation to improve.
"One of the first things Coach V told me was `listen son, I know you can play this game, but you need to get in the weight room.' So I did. And it helped me tremendously," the former NC State star said. "Our strength coach at the time was a guy named Wright Wayne and he really helped me out with different strength and conditioning programs. We did quickness and agility stuff and I also put on some weight. We did it smart though, where I didn't get bulky, I just developed strength. The strength and conditioning staff at State literally brought my game to another level."
Gugliotta's freshman stats of 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game rose to 11.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game his sophomore year. After his sophomore year, Gugliotta saw how his grueling off-season workout regimen had paid off. With the results gained from just one off-season of hard work, Gugliotta knew he had to continue to build off his successful sophomore year to continue to improve. Despite a turbulent offseason that featured a coaching change at State in between his sophomore and junior seasons, Gugliotta continued to go all out in his off-season workouts, pushing himself to be the best he could be.
"The transition from playing for Coach V to Coach Robinson was definitely an adjustment. The two coaches had pretty different personalities," he said. "Coach V was a great man and very charismatic, as everyone knows. Coach Robinson was a great man too, but went about his business more military-like. We even had some 5:30 a.m. practices a couple times a week. Despite the differences, Coach Robinson was someone who I have very fond memories of playing for. I still talk with Coach Robinson from time to time. I was really lucky to have played for two great men and two great leaders," says Gugliotta.
What came next were two years of dominance culminated with a senior year that saw him average 22.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. For his impressive senior season, Gugliotta was rewarded with a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American team. The "gangly 6'7" 198 lb kid who showed up on campus in the summer of 1988 walked away from NC State as a 6'10" 230 lb All-American. With a prolific college career firmly cemented on his résumé, Gugliotta set out to conquer his next challenge - the NBA. After being picked 6th overall in the 1st round of the 1992 NBA draft, Gugliotta was set to begin his professional career with the Washington Bullets.
"The whole draft process was really fun. I probably worked out for 12 or 13 teams," Gugliotta remembered. "It was unique because everyone knew the first three picks that year would be Shaq, Alonzo Mourning and Christian Laettner. After those three, the draft board was pretty wide open. I was told I'd go anywhere from 5 to 25. When I got picked 6th, I felt relieved that the wait was over. I just couldn't wait to find out what team I'd be on and to go ahead and start my professional career."
What would ensue would be an impressive 13-year NBA career highlighted by a 1996-1997 season in which he averaged 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves. That same season, Gugliotta was named to the 1997 NBA All-Star game.
A 1993 first team NBA All-Rookie selection, a Gold medal with USA Basketball at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas and career averages of 13 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game are just some of the notable accomplishments achieved by the 1992 NC State graduate.
One of the many perks of playing at the NBA level, Gugliotta was compensated very nicely. Throughout his career, Gugliotta was able to earn more than $80 million in salary from the seven NBA teams he played for. Not bad for a guy whose own friends didn't think he was good enough to play in the ACC.
"I was fortunate enough to make a great living playing the game that I love. More importantly, I was able to use my education I received from NC State to know how to properly save and invest my money," Gugliotta said.
Since retiring in 2005, Gugliotta makes his home in Atlanta, Ga. He lives with his wife, Keri, and his three children: 16-year-old daughter, Greer; 3-year-old son, Charlie and 1-year-old son, George.
"I'm in a great position to be able to stay home and raise my children," he said. "When I was playing, I was constantly on the road, traveling around the country. Being retired, I have a lot of free time to spend with my family, which has been really fun. I'm really enjoying being able to watch my kids grow up."
In addition to being a family man, Gugliotta also spends his time giving back to charities throughout the Atlanta area. He works closely with the Boys & Girls Club of Atlanta to donate his time helping develop the youth.
"I put on camps for the Boys & Girls Club here in Atlanta. I also work closely with several foundations based out of the Atlanta-area that help give back to the community. Most of my work is sports related because that's obviously an area I'm quite familiar with. It's not all sports though, sometimes it's just hanging out with a kid, or other times it's helping to fix up a building or something around town. I just try to stay as active as I can to help out around the community," says Gugliotta.
With his playing days in the past, Gugliotta is excited about having the flexibility to continue to come back to campus at State to meet and talk with the current players. Current and future Wolfpack players should expect to see a lot of Gugliotta in the future.
"I think it's important for past players to come back. Not just guys who played in the NBA, but anybody who has been a part of the program," Gugliotta said. "I remember when guys like David Thompson came back, or any other guys who maybe weren't as successful as David Thompson. When they came back, it really made it feel like a fraternity and they were looking after us and cared about the program. So now, I want to try to do the same thing and show interest in not only their basketball endeavors, but also their academic and personal lives too. I just want the current guys to know they have my support. I think that goes a long way."
