Tom Gugliotta

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

The youngest of seven children, Gugliotta was a skinny 6'6, 198 pound forward as a high school senior. 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.

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. On ESPN against the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels, Gugliotta threw a perfect backdoor pass in traffic to a cutting Kelsey Weems for a dunk.

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.

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 his final of 13 seasons, he played for the Atlanta Hawks, averaging 5.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg and 1.4 apg. His best years were with the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 20.6 and 20.1 ppg in two years. Gugliotta played briefly for the Boston Celtics, where he earned his nickname "The Grub."

On December 17, 1999, Gugliotta almost died. 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.

[edit] Information

• Height: 6 ft. 10 in. (2.08 m)
• Weight: 250 lb. (113 kg)
• Position: Power Forward
• College: North Carolina State
• High School: Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, New York