While he never finished earning his degree at UCLA in
the 1930s, Sam Gilbert became devoted to the school, especially its
athletic program. By the 1960s, Gilbert had become a millionaire contractor
in the Los Angeles area and had decided to give back to UCLA. During
this time, he donated millions of dollars to UCLA academic programs
and also began to form ties with the basketball team.
According to many UCLA players during the 1960s, Gilbert was known
as Papa Sam. His home was always open to the Bruins and it was not
uncommon to see several players lounging near his pool with him and
his wife Rose on a weekend. The players trusted him as a confidant
and a mentor. Players such as Sidney Wicks, Lew Alcindor, Larry Farmer,
Bill Walton, and many others all came to Sam for friendship and counsel.
Sam was known to push the NCAA rules to the limit. If a player did
not have money for books, he would arrange for the books to be purchased
and delivered to the player. If a player needed an apartment, Sam
always knew of an available one. Sam helped the players find the best
deals on anything they needed.
Many people around the college basketball world have argued that
Sam Gilbert committed infractions far worse than those above. Former
Long Beach State and UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian has stated
how he believes that the only team in Los Angeles with a higher payroll
than the Bruins in the 1960s and 1970s was the Lakers. Tarkanian,
along with a slew of others, believe that Gilbert provided the players
with cash, cars, and whatever else they needed. Tarkanian’s
program at UNLV came under suspicion of NCAA rule infractions and
he constantly brought up that UCLA never faced as much pressure from
the NCAA in regards to Sam Gilbert’s supposed infractions as
his program did because John Wooden was untouchable. It was often
noted that John Wooden knew that his players hung out at Sam Gilbert’s
house but he had no personal relationship with Sam himself.
In 1981, the UCLA basketball program was placed on probation and
UCLA was ordered to disassociate Sam Gilbert from the recruiting process.
UCLA was told to disassociate Gilbert from the recruiting process
because his name was used to co-sign a loan for a player’s car
along with several other infractions.
Government officials report that a year after being forced away from
the UCLA Basketball program, Gilbert began laundering money for a
known drug runner in a scheme that supposedly made him $36 million.
Coincidentally, when federal agents finally had enough evidence to
arrest and went to his home on November, 24th 1987 in Pacific Palisades,
they learned that he had passed away two days earlier of cancer.
Sam Gilbert remained a man of mystery all the way to his grave. Some
former UCLA players say he helped the team out but did nothing to
explicitly violate NCAA rules, others say he bought them whatever
they needed. Some people claim the university was fully aware of what
he was doing, other say he was doing nothing wrong. The same sense
of uncertainty regarding Sam Gilbert was true with his alleged involvement
with a drug runner. Many claim that Sam would never get involved with
such people when he already had enough money while others remain skeptical
of who his acquaintances were.
Regardless of Sam Gilbert’s involvement with the UCLA basketball
team, nothing should be taken away from the spectacular accomplishments
of the players and coaches.
