Sidney Wicks

Sidney Wicks (born September 19, 1949) is a retired American basketball player. A native of California, he played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1971 to 1981. In the NBA he played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, and San Diego Clippers, earning NBA Rookie of the Year in 1972 as well as four all-star selections.

Early life

Sidney Wicks was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 19, 1949. He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, but because of non-qualifying grades in high school, he had to attend Santa Monica College for a year until he could go to his preferred university, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Wicks later earned Academic All-America honors at UCLA in 1971. He earned a degree in sociology from the school.

A 6'8" power forward/center, Wicks was a phenom at UCLA, playing on three straight NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships from 1969 to 1971, the Bruins' star player on the latter two, being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970, Helms National Co-Player of the Year (1970) USBWA and Sporting News Player of the Year (1971) and two-time consensus All-American in 1970 and 1971. On Feb 1, 1996, his jersey #35 was retired in a halftime ceremony at UCLA's home court, Pauley Pavilion. Wicks was an 1985 inductee into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2010, was selected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame.