Sidney Wicks

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Sidney Wicks

Sidney Wicks (born September 19, 1949 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American basketball player. He played professionally in the NBA from 1971 to 1981. He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, California, but because of poor grades in high school, he had to go to Santa Monica Junior College for a year until he could go to his favorite College, UCLA. (Ironically, Wicks was later to earn Academic All-America honors at UCLA in 1971.) A 6'8" power forward/center, Wicks was a star at UCLA, leading the Bruins to three straight NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships from 1969 to 1971, and being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970. The Portland Trail Blazers then selected Wicks with the second pick of the 1971 NBA Draft, and after averaging 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, Wicks was named NBA Rookie of the Year. Wicks played for nine more seasons as a member of the Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, and San Diego Clippers, and though he was never able to match the same level of production he achieved as a rookie, he had a solid career, appearing in four NBA All-Star Games. After retiring in 1981, he served as an assistant coach at UCLA.