Leslie Curtis Gilstrap was born in Bedford, Indiana, in 1956, graduating from Orleans High School in 1974 after an outstanding basketball career. Described by Jack Butcher, the all-time winningest high school basketball coach in Indiana history, as “one of the finest high school players to come out of southern Indiana. Curt was a big, strong player with a deadly inside game.”
The University of Louisville took notice, signing Gilstrap to a basketball scholarship to play for legendary head coach Denny Crum, where he was named Outstanding Junior Varsity Player Award as a freshman, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding. As a sophomore, he found himself playing a limited role on a top-20 team and decided to transfer to play for Charlie
Trafton’s Mighty Oaks of Oakland City College, joining his former high school teammate Mike McClintic.
In his first game for the Oaks, Gilstrap scored 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, helping Oakland City knock off Kentucky Wesleyan College 85-84. He finished the season as the leading scorer on a team that held a 20-12 record, far surpassing the 3-17 mark of the previous season. Gilstrap earned NLCAA All-American honors, representing the top eight players in the National Little College Athletic Association.
Gilstrap’s senior campaign was much like his junior season. He again led the Oaks in scoring and rebounding, earning NLCAA All-American honors while leading the team to a third-place finish at the NLCAA tournament where they defeated second-ranked Daeman College in overtime, 87-80, behind Gilstrap’s 38 points. He scored 27 points in the second round, helping the Oaks knock off Durham College 94-86. In the semifinal game, Oakland City played top-seeded Southern Union, falling 60-56, led by Gilstrap’s 18 point effort. The team was able to win the third-place game, finishing with 20 wins for the second straight season, finishing at 20-11.
At the conclusion of his senior year, Gilstrap received three more honors. He was voted the 1977-78 Oakland City Bachelor of the Year as well as Oakland City Mr. Basketball. Just before graduation, head coach Charlie Trafton made Gilstrap’s number 54 the first retired jersey in Mighty Oaks basketball history, recognizing him as one of the best basketball talents to play for the Oaks.
Gilstrap was offered a number of professional basketball opportunities following his time at Oakland City, playing for the Alaska Northern Knights.
He married Susie Taylor in 1983 and the couple had two sons, Corey and Jordan.
Described by many as a “gentle giant” with uncommon grace, “standing tall as a vision of humility and kindness”, Gilstrap passed away in 2014 after battling cancer, having worked at CPI, Paoli Inc., and Cook Inc.
