Orlando Carl Nicks (born October 6, 1958) is an American former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) player.

Amateur career

A 6'1" guard, Nicks played high school basketball at Englewood High School in

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and then signed to play college basketball at

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. Nicks played sparingly in his first season, averaging 2.2 ppg in 24 games played. In academic trouble with a 1.6 GPA,

Bob King Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States * Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals * Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surn ...

, the head coach, recommended that Nicks leave the Sycamores and go to a junior college to work on his academic and basketball skills. He spent the 1977–78 season at

Gulf Coast Community College Gulf Coast State College is a public college in Panama City, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and offers the Associate of Arts degree, Associate of Science degree, certificates, and as of 2011, bachelor's degrees. History The ...

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

, where he averaged 22.4 ppg. Nicks credited the experience, stating, "I wanted to play basketball. I respect the game. I know I can play this game. I know I can play this game at the highest level. I knew that. So I went down there and I grinded. I was isolated and it made me grow up." With a 3.5 GPA in hand, a focused Nicks returned to Indiana State, averaging 19.3 ppg, earning the nickname "Mr. Intensity." Nicks combined with teammate

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

in 1978-79, and helped lead Indiana State to the

championship game In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in the NCAA tournament, with their only loss coming in the final, with the

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in th ...

led

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and whi ...

defeating the Sycamores 75-64. In his senior season, Nicks averaged 26.8 ppg, earning honorable mention All-American. Nicks was twice named to the All-

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern United ...

first team (1979, 1980). He was also named to the USA Select Team in 1979 for a tour of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

Professional career

After being selected by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

with the 23rd overall pick in the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns select ...

, Nicks played for Denver, averaging 6.1 ppg in 27 games before being traded to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference, Northwest Division. Since the 1991–92 season, ...

in December 1980. He would finish the season with the Jazz, averaging 6.3 ppg. He would spend the 1981-82 season in Utah, averaging 7.4 ppg in 80 games played. He was released by the Jazz at the end of the season, but signed as a free agent by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, playing 9 games for the Cavs in their

1982-83 season __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

before his release, bringing his NBA career to a close. In 156 career NBA games, Nicks averaged 16 minutes, 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He spent played for the Toronto Tornados of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) during the 1983–84 season, averaging 24.3 ppg. Nicks then spent five seasons in Europe, playing initially for

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, and then for two years

B.C. Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in the Basket ...

in the Belgian

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the DBL and PBL. The inaugural s ...

(1985-1987). Nick then went back to France, playing for Tours Métropole Basket from 1987-1989 before retiring.

Personal life

After retiring as a player, Nicks coached alongside

Bill Hodges William Oscar Hodges (born March 9, 1943) is an American basketball coach. He was the head basketball coach at Indiana State University from 1978 to 1982, at Georgia College and State University from 1986 to 1991 and at Mercer University from 19 ...

, his former head coach at Indiana State, at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,00 ...

before moving to Indianapolis in 1998. He was a coach in the Pike Township system and ran a program for at-risk teenagers for

Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital is a hospital part of Indiana University Health, located in Indianapolis, state of Indiana, United States. It is the largest hospital in the state of Indiana and one of only four regional Level I Trau ...

before rejoining former Sycamore teammate and then

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

president Larry Bird with the Pacers as a scout. In 2007, Nicks was inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame and his #22 Sycamores jersey was retired in 2018. He reflected on his experiences at Indiana State, stating, "It all worked out for me. If someone had asked me back then if I would ever think about a jersey retirement, I would ask them if they were crazy. But moving forward, it happened ... and I'm just real grateful about it."

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, 27 , , 0 , , 18.3 , , .436 , , .000 , , .593 , , 1.8 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, 40 , , 0 , , 15.4 , , .510 , , .000 , , .537 , , 1.5 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .0 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 1 , , 16.5 , , .454 , , .000 , , .567 , , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, 9 , , 2 , , 16.4 , , .441 , , .000 , , .647 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .0 , , 7.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 156 , , 3 , , 16.5 , , .462 , , .000 , , .570 , , 1.9 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .0 , , 6.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1976–77 , style="text-align:left;", Indiana State , 24 , , — , , 7.0 , , .370 , , — , , .481 , , 1.1 , , — , , — , , — , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1978–79 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , — , , — , , .464 , , — , , .667, , 3.5 , , — , , — , , — , , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1979–80 , style="text-align:left;", Indiana State , 27 , , — , , — , , .441 , , — , , .775 , , 4.2 , , — , , — , , — , , 26.8 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 85 , , — , , — , , .449 , , — , , .714 , , 3.0 , , — , , — , , — , , 16.8

References

External links

Career stats
a
basketball-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicks, Carl 1958 births Living people American basketball scouts American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in France American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago BC Oostende players Billings Volcanos players Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players Englewood Technical Prep Academy alumni Indiana Pacers scouts Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Point guards Shooting guards Toronto Tornados players Union Tours Basket Métropole players Utah Jazz players Saint-Étienne Basket players