Bill Text: IL HJR0014 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates the portion of Illinois Route 1 from Wichert Road to St. Anne as the "Honorary Jack Sikma Road".

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2025-01-07 - Session Sine Die [HJR0014 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HJR0014-Introduced.html

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HJ0014 LRB103 27354 MST 53726 r
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, It is necessary to recognize those who are
dedicated to the betterment of the State of Illinois and their
communities; and
WHEREAS, Jack Wayne Sikma was born in Kankakee to Grace
and Clarence Sikma; he lived in rural Wichert while growing up
and attended St. Anne High School; and
WHEREAS, Jack Sikma was a guard his first three years of
high school, before his height reached 6'10" as he entered his
senior season; with the nickname "the Wichert Wonder", he led
the St. Anne High School Cardinals to a fourth-place finish in
the 1974 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class A boys
basketball tournament, scoring 100 points in his four
tournament games; and
WHEREAS, Jack Sikma played collegiate basketball at
Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington; he majored in
accounting and graduated in 1977; after being heavily
recruited by many Division I schools, he decided to enroll at
Illinois Wesleyan, swayed by his close relationship with
Illinois Wesleyan Coach Dennie Bridges and being able to
immediately play as a freshman; he also liked that Illinois
Wesleyan had several Division I schools on their schedule; and

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WHEREAS, At Illinois Wesleyan University, Jack Sikma was a
three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA
Division III) All-American and averaged 27.0 points and 15.4
rebounds as a senior; he was chosen as the College Conference
of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Most Outstanding Player for
three straight years; he was later inducted into the D3 Hall of
Fame (2012) and the Small Schools Basketball Hall of Fame
(2017) and was a member of the D3 50th & 75th All-Anniversary
Teams; he was also a two-time Academic All-American and was
selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-American Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, Jack Sikma remains Illinois Wesleyan University's
all-time leading scorer and rebounder; he averaged 21.2 points
(2,272 career points) and 13.1 rebounds (1,405 career
rebounds); in each of his last three seasons, the Titans won
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Conference
Championships and advanced to the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics Tournament; and
WHEREAS, Jack Sikma was a first round pick, drafted with
the eighth overall selection in the 1977 NBA draft by the
Seattle SuperSonics; due to the relatively small size of his
alma mater, he was considered an unknown quantity compared to
the "established, well-publicized stars" taken before him; and

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WHEREAS, As a rookie in 1977-1978, Jack Sikma averaged
10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, as the SuperSonics played in the
NBA Finals, losing to the Washington Bullets in seven games;
he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1978; and
WHEREAS, The next season, 1978-1979, Jack Sikma averaged
15.6 points and 12.4 rebounds and became an All-Star; he
averaged a double-double of 14.8 points and 11.7 rebounds in
the playoffs and, along with teammates Dennis Johnson, Gus
Williams, and Paul Silas, defeated the Washington Bullets and
Wes Unseld in an NBA Finals rematch; his final free throws were
the last points scored by the SuperSonics to win the series;
and
WHEREAS, In 1984, Jack Sikma signed a five-year contract
with the SuperSonics; General Manager Les Habegger remarked,
"After careful consideration, we concluded that we could look
far and wide and never obtain another center of his caliber.";
he continued his All-Star caliber play but was forced to
undergo finger surgery in 1985; and
WHEREAS, In 1986, Jack Sikma and Seattle's 1988 second
round draft pick were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in
exchange for Alton Lister and Milwaukee's first-round draft
picks in 1987 and 1989; Milwaukee Coach Don Nelson felt that
with this trade he gained the missing piece of a team that had

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frequently dominated the regular season before being exposed
at the center position in the playoffs; Milwaukee struggled
with injuries leading to the playoffs; and
WHEREAS, In the initial playoff series, Jack Sikma scored
11 points in the fourth quarter to get past Charles Barkley and
the Philadelphia 76ers; in the next series, the Bucks were
defeated by the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series, in
which he was one of eight players fined for fighting or leaving
the bench to join the brawl; and
WHEREAS, During the pre-season, Jack Sikma and the Bucks
participated in the diplomatically-oriented Basketball Open, a
round-robin, exhibition tournament that included a match with
the U.S.S.R. national team and the Italian national team; and
WHEREAS, With the Bucks, Jack Sikma showed his superb
shooting skills and made the playoffs every year for the
remainder of his career; despite being the team's center, he
was one of the most effective free throw shooters in the league
and would shoot technical free throws for the team; he set a
then-record of 51 games without a free throw miss; his
late-career three point shooting was cited as a sign of
league-wide adoption; and
WHEREAS, In 1989, Jack Sikma faced his former team in what

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was then the longest game in the shot clock era, winning in the
fifth overtime; he remained an effective big man into his
final season, playing 77 regular season games and three
playoff games, including twice grabbing 14 rebounds in a game;
and
WHEREAS, In five seasons and 392 games with the Bucks,
Jack Sikma averaged 13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.9
assists, shooting 45% from the floor and 88% from the line; and
WHEREAS, With the SuperSonics, Jack Sikma was selected to
seven consecutive All-Star Games, from 1979 to 1985; in nine
seasons and 715 games with Seattle, he averaged a
double-double of 16.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, along with 3.3
assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 blocks, shooting 47% from the
field and 83% from the line; and
WHEREAS, Jack Sikma was a pioneer as one of the earliest
sharp-shooting big men, a role that would become common after
the turn of the 21st century; as a center, his distinct shot
and uncharacteristic accuracy allowed him to play a role
outside of the paint; his signature Sikma-1/Sikma-2 moves were
key to future agile centers; instructional coach Pete Newell
wrote on Sikma's signature move in his 2008 book, "Playing
Big" as "baseline moves for loose defenses"; towards the end
of his career, where his lack of athleticism prevented him

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from using his eponymous move and no other big men appeared to
be able to replicate it, he stated that coaches were inquiring
about the technique even though he believed it would be
defunct upon his retirement; and
WHEREAS, Jack Sikma's overall strength and height,
combined with his shooting ability and rebounding, became a
more common prototype long after his retirement, with
protegees like Yao Ming and Kevin Love becoming quality
players in the NBA; on a January 2019 NBA TV segment, former
players Chris Webber, Isiah Thomas, and Kevin McHale discussed
his unexpected influence on modern-day basketball play with a
segment entitled "Jack Sikma's moves still being used today"
and focused on common moves taller players have since adopted
to utilize their shooting and passing abilities; the "stretch
5" has since become common in the NBA, with the number of three
pointers made by centers sharply increasing; his moves remain
widely taught in amateur basketball, including being one of
College Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bo Ryan's five required
skills for his team's big men, being cited by local girls'
basketball coaches in 2019, and being strongly touted by
college players born well after his retirement; therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE

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SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the portion of
Illinois Route 1 from Wichert Road to St. Anne as the "Honorary
Jack Sikma Road"; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation
is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with
State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs
giving notice of the name of the "Honorary Jack Sikma Road";
and be it further
RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
presented to Jack Sikma and the Secretary of the Illinois
Department of Transportation.