Allen Harper "Skip" Wise Jr. (born July 25, 1955) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Wise was a sensation as a high school player at Dunbar High School in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. In his junior year in 1973,Wise led Dunbar to a victory over DeMatha High School, led by future

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

star

Adrian Dantley Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dantley is a six-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection an ...

. Wise then played at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

and was the first

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

to win first team all-conference honors in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. Wise left Clemson after his freshman year, signing with the Baltimore Claws of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

in 1975.However, drugs impaired his play; in Terry Pluto's book on the ABA, ''Loose Balls'', a coach found Wise shivering in the locker room, suggesting

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

use. The Claws folded after playing three preseason exhibition games (with the 20-year-old scoring 23 points in those contests, including twelve in Baltimore's last-ever game), so Wise then signed with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. The Warriors dropped him after a some days, however, with Wise's drug use as a major reason (allegedly, Warriors coach Al Attles caught Wise using heroin in the team locker room). In November, Wise hooked on with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

and appeared briefly in two games; they were his only regular season games as a professional, as the Spurs cut him by the end of the month. Wise eventually served prison time for

drug-related crime A drug-related crime is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug product ...

s in the 1970s and 1980s, before returning home to Baltimore and working in a local community center.

External links

BasketballReference.com Skip Wise statisticsPress Box article on Skip Wise
* ttp://www.remembertheaba.com/Baltimore-Claws.html RememberTheABA.com Baltimore Claws page, with information on Wise's time with the teambr>HoopsHype.com article on Wise
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Skip 1955 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore Clemson Tigers men's basketball players Golden State Warriors draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards San Antonio Spurs players Undrafted ABA players