Full Text of HJR0014 103rd General Assembly
HJ0014 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It is necessary to recognize those who are | 3 | | dedicated to the betterment of the State of Illinois and their | 4 | | communities; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Jack Wayne Sikma was born in Kankakee to Grace | 6 | | and Clarence Sikma; he lived in rural Wichert while growing up | 7 | | and attended St. Anne High School; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Jack Sikma was a guard his first three years of | 9 | | high school, before his height reached 6'10" as he entered his | 10 | | senior season; with the nickname "the Wichert Wonder", he led | 11 | | the St. Anne High School Cardinals to a fourth-place finish in | 12 | | the 1974 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class A boys | 13 | | basketball tournament, scoring 100 points in his four | 14 | | tournament games; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Jack Sikma played collegiate basketball at | 16 | | Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington; he majored in | 17 | | accounting and graduated in 1977; after being heavily | 18 | | recruited by many Division I schools, he decided to enroll at | 19 | | Illinois Wesleyan, swayed by his close relationship with | 20 | | Illinois Wesleyan Coach Dennie Bridges and being able to | 21 | | immediately play as a freshman; he also liked that Illinois | 22 | | Wesleyan had several Division I schools on their schedule; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, At Illinois Wesleyan University, Jack Sikma was a | 2 | | three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA | 3 | | Division III) All-American and averaged 27.0 points and 15.4 | 4 | | rebounds as a senior; he was chosen as the College Conference | 5 | | of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Most Outstanding Player for | 6 | | three straight years; he was later inducted into the D3 Hall of | 7 | | Fame (2012) and the Small Schools Basketball Hall of Fame | 8 | | (2017) and was a member of the D3 50th & 75th All-Anniversary | 9 | | Teams; he was also a two-time Academic All-American and was | 10 | | selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Jack Sikma remains Illinois Wesleyan University's | 12 | | all-time leading scorer and rebounder; he averaged 21.2 points | 13 | | (2,272 career points) and 13.1 rebounds (1,405 career | 14 | | rebounds); in each of his last three seasons, the Titans won | 15 | | College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Conference | 16 | | Championships and advanced to the National Association of | 17 | | Intercollegiate Athletics Tournament; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Jack Sikma was a first round pick, drafted with | 19 | | the eighth overall selection in the 1977 NBA draft by the | 20 | | Seattle SuperSonics; due to the relatively small size of his | 21 | | alma mater, he was considered an unknown quantity compared to | 22 | | the "established, well-publicized stars" taken before him; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, As a rookie in 1977-1978, Jack Sikma averaged | 2 | | 10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, as the SuperSonics played in the | 3 | | NBA Finals, losing to the Washington Bullets in seven games; | 4 | | he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1978; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The next season, 1978-1979, Jack Sikma averaged | 6 | | 15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds and became an All-Star; he | 7 | | averaged a double-double of 14.8 points and 11.7 rebounds in | 8 | | the playoffs and, along with teammates Dennis Johnson, Gus | 9 | | Williams, and Paul Silas, defeated the Washington Bullets and | 10 | | Wes Unseld in an NBA Finals rematch; his final free throws were | 11 | | the last points scored by the SuperSonics to win the series; | 12 | | and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In 1984, Jack Sikma signed a five-year contract | 14 | | with the SuperSonics; General Manager Les Habegger remarked, | 15 | | "After careful consideration, we concluded that we could look | 16 | | far and wide and never obtain another center of his caliber."; | 17 | | he continued his All-Star caliber play but was forced to | 18 | | undergo finger surgery in 1985; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In 1986, Jack Sikma and Seattle's 1988 second | 20 | | round draft pick were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in | 21 | | exchange for Alton Lister and Milwaukee's first-round draft | 22 | | picks in 1987 and 1989; Milwaukee Coach Don Nelson felt that | 23 | | with this trade he gained the missing piece of a team that had |
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| 1 | | frequently dominated the regular season before being exposed | 2 | | at the center position in the playoffs; Milwaukee struggled | 3 | | with injuries leading to the playoffs; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In the initial playoff series, Jack Sikma scored | 5 | | 11 points in the fourth quarter to get past Charles Barkley and | 6 | | the Philadelphia 76ers; in the next series, the Bucks were | 7 | | defeated by the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series, in | 8 | | which he was one of eight players fined for fighting or leaving | 9 | | the bench to join the brawl; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, During the pre-season, Jack Sikma and the Bucks | 11 | | participated in the diplomatically-oriented Basketball Open, a | 12 | | round-robin, exhibition tournament that included a match with | 13 | | the U.S.S.R. national team and the Italian national team; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, With the Bucks, Jack Sikma showed his superb | 15 | | shooting skills and made the playoffs every year for the | 16 | | remainder of his career; despite being the team's center, he | 17 | | was one of the most effective free throw shooters in the league | 18 | | and would shoot technical free throws for the team; he set a | 19 | | then-record of 51 games without a free throw miss; his | 20 | | late-career three point shooting was cited as a sign of | 21 | | league-wide adoption; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, In 1989, Jack Sikma faced his former team in what |
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| 1 | | was then the longest game in the shot clock era, winning in the | 2 | | fifth overtime; he remained an effective big man into his | 3 | | final season, playing 77 regular season games and three | 4 | | playoff games, including twice grabbing 14 rebounds in a game; | 5 | | and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In five seasons and 392 games with the Bucks, | 7 | | Jack Sikma averaged 13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.9 | 8 | | assists, shooting 45% from the floor and 88% from the line; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, With the SuperSonics, Jack Sikma was selected to | 10 | | seven consecutive All-Star Games, from 1979 to 1985; in nine | 11 | | seasons and 715 games with Seattle, he averaged a | 12 | | double-double of 16.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, along with 3.3 | 13 | | assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 blocks, shooting 47% from the | 14 | | field and 83% from the line; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Jack Sikma was a pioneer as one of the earliest | 16 | | sharp-shooting big men, a role that would become common after | 17 | | the turn of the 21st century; as a center, his distinct shot | 18 | | and uncharacteristic accuracy allowed him to play a role | 19 | | outside of the paint; his signature Sikma-1/Sikma-2 moves were | 20 | | key to future agile centers; instructional coach Pete Newell | 21 | | wrote on Sikma's signature move in his 2008 book, "Playing | 22 | | Big" as "baseline moves for loose defenses"; towards the end | 23 | | of his career, where his lack of athleticism prevented him |
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| 1 | | from using his eponymous move and no other big men appeared to | 2 | | be able to replicate it, he stated that coaches were inquiring | 3 | | about the technique even though he believed it would be | 4 | | defunct upon his retirement; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Jack Sikma's overall strength and height, | 6 | | combined with his shooting ability and rebounding, became a | 7 | | more common prototype long after his retirement, with | 8 | | protegees like Yao Ming and Kevin Love becoming quality | 9 | | players in the NBA; on a January 2019 NBA TV segment, former | 10 | | players Chris Webber, Isiah Thomas, and Kevin McHale discussed | 11 | | his unexpected influence on modern-day basketball play with a | 12 | | segment entitled "Jack Sikma's moves still being used today" | 13 | | and focused on common moves taller players have since adopted | 14 | | to utilize their shooting and passing abilities; the "stretch | 15 | | 5" has since become common in the NBA, with the number of three | 16 | | pointers made by centers sharply increasing; his moves remain | 17 | | widely taught in amateur basketball, including being one of | 18 | | College Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bo Ryan's five required | 19 | | skills for his team's big men, being cited by local girls' | 20 | | basketball coaches in 2019, and being strongly touted by | 21 | | college players born well after his retirement; therefore, be | 22 | | it
| 23 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 24 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE |
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| 1 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the portion of | 2 | | Illinois Route 1 from Wichert Road to St. Anne as the "Honorary | 3 | | Jack Sikma Road"; and be it further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation | 5 | | is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with | 6 | | State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs | 7 | | giving notice of the name of the "Honorary Jack Sikma Road"; | 8 | | and be it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to Jack Sikma and the Secretary of the Illinois | 11 | | Department of Transportation.
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