Friends of Basketball

Neal Wick

Year Inducted: 1985

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations: Sterling Township High School

Biography: Neal’s love for basketball began when he was in the 7^th grade at Sterling’s Wallace School.  He was the team manager for the basketball team as both a 7^th and as an 8^th grader.  At Sterling Township High School, he was the team manager for all 4 of his student years.  Wick coached an independent basketball team in Sterling from 1946-1968.  He gave high School players who never went to college a place to play basketball.  Some players who went to college returned to Sterling and joined his squad.  Neal began the Sterling City League, first through the YMCA.  The league later shifted to the Sterling Park District.  Over a 20-year span, Wick coached 127 players and boasted a record of 396-98.  He initiated a “coffee can fund” that helped raise money for the initial IBCA Hall of Fame display in Horton Fieldhouse on the ISU campus.  Neal Wick passed away on June 1, 2013 at the age of 88.