The 6-foot-4 UC Santa Cruz sophomore thrives on the concept of the collective. "You grow together as a team and form a family. I did sports my whole life and can't imagine not being part of a team anymore."
He is an important member of the Slugs as his numbers indicate: 11.7 points per game on 50%, 38% (6-15) and 65% shooting accuracy as well as 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists a contest. It was 25 games, 24 starts and just under 26 minutes an outing for the former 2014 Monticello Empire League Most Valuable Player as well as Junior Class President while at Vacaville High.
Another indicator of his fervor for hoops came late in his freshman season. He was injured very early on--a foot stress fracture--but chose to return and play in the team's final six games rather than redshirt and save a year of eligibility.
"I have a true passion for basketball," the computer science major explained. "I don't know what I would be doing without basketball."
His coach, Ron Dubois, offered, "Sam has put in hard the work. He is about all the right things it takes to be a successful student athlete at the college level. He has earned everything including the respect of his teammates and that is why he became a leader so early in his career here at UCSC."
What's fascinating is the situation Gabbard faced coming out of high school. He applied to UCLA and "I would have definitely gone if I was accepted." He wasn't. "At first, I was bummed but coming to UCSC is the best decision I ever made."
So with the Westwood campus not in the picture, he set out to find his college home. "I knew I needed to play basketball in college but I didn't know where or how high."
He had attended a Hoop Mountain basketball camp in the summer between his junior and senior year in high school. This one was designed to feature would-be seniors with high grade point averages. Various DIII school talked with him, including UC Santa Cruz. "UC is a great system so I was interested."
Next was attending a Nike Camp at UC Santa Cruz. Matters solidified after that and Gabbard became a Banana Slug.
Citing his father, who played one year at University of Redlands and then three at Cal State Northridge, as his biggest basketball influence, Gabbard offered, "As a kid, playing basketball was fun. My Dad was coaching and we spent time together traveling around. He is the main reason I fell in love with basketball."
He noted two necessary adjustments upon entering a higher level of hoops. "In high school, I shot a lot and also brought the ball up the court. But in college, there are other guys who can shoot and handle and do it better than me. So you need to understand your strengths and those of your teammates and play to them."
The other initial alteration was in providing direction. "I was a leader in high school, a vocal team captain. But when I came here, I was a 17-year-old freshman and we had guys who were 21 and 22. So I tried to lead by example during practice."
UC Santa Cruz Coach Ron Dubois certainly picked up on Gabbard's personal strengths because he anointed him as a co-captain prior to this season.
Offering his best moment to date, Gabbard said, "We came back from Christmas break and won three in a row." The thinking was "we figured it out, it's clicking now." Again, this is thinking focused on the group perspective.
Gabbard also expressed appreciation playing for Dubois who has previous coaching stops with the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, in France and Mexico as well as being a FIBA-certified coach. "The scouting reports before games are great and he remains calm during games because there is nothing he hasn't already been through."
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