Tom Gugliotta

Tom Gugliotta

No. 24, 8, 42, 7
Power forward
Personal information
Born	December 19, 1969 (1969-12-19) Huntington Station, New York
Nationality	American
High school	Walt Whitman (Huntington Station, New York)
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
College	North Carolina State (1988–1992)
NBA Draft	1992 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the Washington Bullets
Pro career	1992–2005
Career history
1992–1994	Washington Bullets
1994–1995	Golden State Warriors
1995–1998	Minnesota Timberwolves
1999–2004	Phoenix Suns
2004	Utah Jazz
2004–2005	Boston Celtics
2005	Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Star (1997) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1993)
Career NBA statistics
Points	9,895 (13.0 ppg)
Rebounds	5,589 (7.3 rpg)
Assists	1,079 (1.4 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men’s basketball Competitor for United States FIBA Americas Championship Gold 1999 San Juan National team

Thomas James Gugliotta (born December 19, 1969 near Huntington Station, New York, United States) is a former American professional basketball player.

Early life

The youngest of seven children, Gugliotta was a skinny 6'6", 198 pound forward as a high school senior. He attended Walt Whitman High School His two older brothers, Frank Jr. and Charlie, both enjoyed limited collegiate success on the hardwood and played professionally in Europe. His father, Frank Sr., called an old friend, Jim Valvano at North Carolina State University during his senior season and told Valvano that his youngest son was going to be a special basketball player. Valvano took a chance on Gugliotta and brought him to Raleigh.

College career

During his freshman season, "Googs" was limited by a knee injury. However, he emerged in the second half of the ACC season as a member of the rotation for the Wolfpack and appeared in 28 games, averaging two points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

During the offseason, Valvano began telling crowds at Wolfpack Club meetings that Gugliotta was beginning to blossom. Emerging as a taller, heavier sophomore, Gugliotta averaged 11.1 points and seven rebounds a game. As a junior, Gugliotta began to show his star potential, averaging more than 15 points and nine rebounds per game. As a senior, Gugliotta averaged more than 22 points and almost 10 rebounds per game and drew favorable comparisons from announcers to Larry Bird.^{[citation needed]}

NBA

Gugliotta was drafted in 1992 out of North Carolina State University with the 6th overall pick by the National Basketball Association's Washington Bullets. In 13 NBA seasons he averaged 13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 2.8 apg over 763 regular season games, but appeared in only 12 playoff games. His best years were with the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 20.6 and 20.1 ppg in the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 seasons. Gugliotta also played for the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks.

Accident

On December 17, 1999, Gugliotta had a near-death experience. Having trouble sleeping after games, Gugliotta took a supplement marketed as a "sleep aid" which included furanon di-hydro, also known as gamma butyrolactone, or GBL. Gugliotta was talking to his wife, Nikki, on his cellular telephone when he collapsed and stopped breathing. His wife heard the commotion and called the wife of teammate Rex Chapman who was able to call her husband on the bus and instruct him to check his bag for the supplement bottle. The information saved his life as doctors were able to give him an antidote in the emergency room moments later.

External links

• Historical Player Profile at NBA.com
• Tom Gugliotta at Basketball-Reference.com