Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Illinois Wesleyan graduate Jack Sikma, a seven-time National Basketball Association all-star, is one of 13 people chosen as a finalist for potential 2019 induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
Sikma's inclusion as a finalist was announced on Friday, Feb. 15, in Charlotte, N.C. as part of the NBA All-Star weekend.
The entire Class of 2019, including those elected by international and veterans' committees, will be announced at the NCAA Final Four on Saturday, April 6, with the 2019 induction ceremony for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame scheduled for Sept. 5-7 in Springfield, Mass.
 
A 1977 IWU graduate, Sikma is the school's all-time leading scorer (2,272 points) and rebounder (1,405) and, in each of his last three seasons, the Titans won College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships and advanced to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament in Kansas City.
  
At Illinois Wesleyan, Sikma was a three-time NAIA All-American and was the top vote-getter as an Associated Press College Division All-American as a senior when he averaged 27.0 points and 15.4 rebounds. In four years his teams went 83-32 and he was chosen as the CCIW most outstanding player for three straight years. He was inducted into the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, the NAIA Hall of Fame and was a member of the NAIA 50th & 75th All-Anniversary Teams.
He was also a two-time Academic All-American and was selected in 1999 to the CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame.
 
The No. 8 pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, Sikma scored 17,287 points and got 10,816 rebounds in the NBA and was a key player on Seattle's 1979 NBA championship team. He holds Seattle's team records for rebounds (7,729) and free throws made (3,044).
Sikma is the only center to have led the NBA in free throw shooting percentage, converting 92.2 percent in 1987-88 with the Milwaukee Bucks and his jersey has been retired both by Illinois Wesleyan and the Seattle SuperSonics.
He has worked as an assistant coach for Seattle, Houston and Minnesota and currently serves as a coaching consultant for the Toronto Raptors.
 
Other finalists selected in the NBA announcement are Leta Andrews (coach), Hugh Evans (referee), Bill Fitch (coach), Marques Johnson (player), Bobby Jones (player), Sidney Moncrief (player), Barbara Stevens (coach), Eddie Sutton (coach), Ben Wallace (player), Teresa Weatherspoon (player), Chris Webber (player), and Paul Westphal (player).
After being selected in 2018, Moncrief, Webber, Weatherspoon and Jones are finalists back on the list for possible inclusion this year.