“Don’t let the table beat you.”
Sam Gilmer kept repeating advice from his late father as he bore down for another round of 9-ball for the seventh time in three days.
This table, though, was different. Gilmer wasn’t accustomed to its surface or color, things that can get into a lesser player’s head.
But Gilmer is no “lesser” player, proving it outright when he sank the final ball in the corner pocket and claimed the 9-Ball Black Tier trophy May 3 at the American Poolplayers Association national championships in Las Vegas.
Gilmer, a Top 100 APA player, bested a field of 132 players in the grueling seven-round bracket.
“It’s very satisfying because you do it yourself,” he said. “I visualize myself winning and holding the trophy, and to finally be there and accomplish that, it was an amazing feeling.”
The Gilmers are well known in the sport and in Starkville. Sam and his family run Southern Billiards on Washington Street, one of the oldest running establishments downtown that has stood since its opening in 1990 by Sam’s father, R.H. Gilmer.
“He was my biggest influence playing pool, and he taught me everything that I know from the time I was 4 years old,” Sam said of his father. “By the time I was 8, I’d spend any time I could playing pool, and I was 11 in my first junior nationals tournament.”
R.H., known simply as “The Professor,” taught finance and business at Mississippi State. He was one of a select group of instructors licensed by the Billiards Congress of America and would mentor many young players in his time. He passed away in 2012, but his legacy in the sport and in business is carried on by his children.
Though unable to travel for the tournament, Sam’s sisters, Doella and Melanie, checked in with him on the phone throughout the tournament, helping him stay focused and sharp. His wife, Kayla, traveled and cheered him on as well, alongside several friends from the Mississippi APA league.
While Sam’s dad wasn’t there, he felt his presence with him through the many tips and lessons throughout his life, as well as a reunion with an old family friend.
Chad McDaniel, an old student of The Professor, started those lessons when Sam was a 4-year-old dragging a milk crate around to reach the pool table.
McDaniel competed in the White Tier in Las Vegas and met up with Sam for the first time in 20 years. What started as a brief reunion turned into a weekend of fist bumps, words of encouragement and celebration.
“He’s 39, but I still see him as ‘Little Sam,’ and it was hard not to be excited for him,” McDaniel said. “He was amazing. It was great to see him keep his composure even as he got a little behind in the finals. He rallied around himself, and we could all tell.”
McDaniel relies on a wheelchair to move around due to a rare genetic condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, restricting his growth. He was expected to live just a few weeks, but is now 53 years old and still going. He is even the subject of an upcoming film, titled “96 lbs of Dynamite,” documenting his life and his pool career.
“He was a big help,” Gilmer said of McDaniel. “Chad knew (my dad) very well. His disability never held him back from playing. He competed in his tier at nationals, but he followed me in all my matches, along with some other guys from Mississippi. It was nice to have them in my corner.”
Gilmer told his friends and family that it was their win as well. Despite all the skill and focus required of him, it was only fitting that he shared the victory with the people the game helped bring into his life. He remarked that Southern Billiards is a “family,” and that family was there for him when he reached the mountaintop.
“When you’ve got your team pulling for you, you feel it,” Gilmer said. “It was a motivation, too, because I wanted to win with Chad. … Even though he hadn’t seen me play in about 20 years, it felt like having my dad there in a way. He watched me through Chad, and that helped me a lot.”
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