Lehigh Valley loses a basketball coaching icon

FROM KEITH GROLLER

It's with great shock and sadness that I learned today that Bob Gilbert, one of the great area basketball coaches over the past 30-40 years, died suddenly on Sunday at his home.

It was apparently a heart attack.

This news was stunning to me because I had just spoken to Gilbert at Cedar Beach in July and did a little piece on him for our newspaper. I respected Gilbert immensely and thought he was one of the greatest high school assistant coaches we've ever had. I think most people who know the game would agree.

Gilbert told me in July he was approaching his 67th birthday and his 37th season of basketball.

I first knew of him as a very successful coach at South Mountain Junior High in Allentown in the 1970s when there was a great rivalry between South Mountain and my school, Harrison-Morton. Some of the games drew as much excitement as high school games.

Gilbert told me he began coaching at South Mountain in 1972.

Later on, many of the guys I came to know at Dieruff couldn't say enough about how much they learned about the game from Gilbert at South Mountain.

He was most recently an assistant with Ron Hassler and Jerry Radocha at North Penn, and it was no coincidence that wherever Gilbert coached, teams were successful.

I always thought he would have made a great high school coach, but he was more than content to be an assistant and he worked with some of the area's all-time greats, guys like Hassler, Radocha, Rich Baksa, Dick Tracy and Terry German. He also enjoyed his time with Andy Stephens at Emmaus.

"I had an opportunity in Allentown at one point, but the Allentown district didn't allow you to be an administrator and a coach at the same time," he said in July. "That's why I went to Whitehall. The key thing is they let me coach, both there and at Central Catholic.

"I've been very fortunate to be with some great guys. I've been a part of 15 championship teams and the key to each was that the players worked hard and listened, and the parents were supportive and let the coaches coach."

Although he never quite earned the glory that a head coach gets, Gilbert had the satisfaction of knowing he shaped a lot of lives and helped to develop dozens of fine basketball players.

I heard from Dennis Laub, the RCN4 commentator who played at Whitehall and coached at both Whitehall and Central Catholic.

"He truly touched many athletes and coaches all over this valley," Laub said. "I had the honor of being on staff with him while at Whitehall and he was a man who I learned a great deal from and I respected him even more."

I'm sure more tributes are to come.

This was an outstanding teacher, coach and man. He made area basketball a better product and the Lehigh Valley a better place. He will most definitely be missed.

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