Sue Wicks

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title: "Sue Wicks" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1966-births", "living-people", "all-american-college-women's-basketball-players", "american-women's-basketball-coaches", "american-women's-basketball-players", "medalists-at-the-1987-pan-american-games", "basketball-players-at-the-1987-pan-american-games", "pan-american-games-gold-medalists-for-the-united-states-in-basketball", "centers-(basketball)", "lgbtq-basketball-players", "lgbtq-people-from-new-york-(state)", "american-lesbian-sportswomen", "new-york-liberty-draft-picks", "new-york-liberty-players", "people-from-center-moriches,-new-york", "sportspeople-from-brookhaven,-new-york", "basketball-players-from-suffolk-county,-new-york", "rutgers-scarlet-knights-women's-basketball-coaches", "rutgers-scarlet-knights-women's-basketball-players", "wnba-all-stars", "united-states-women's-national-basketball-team-players", "20th-century-american-sportswomen"] description: "American basketball player and aquaculture farmer" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Wicks" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American basketball player and aquaculture farmer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox basketball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Sue Wicks
image	Sue Wicks.jpg
caption	Wicks being honored at a Rutgers-UConn game
number	23
position	Forward
height_ft	6
height_in	3
weight_lb	174
birth_date
birth_place	Center Moriches, New York, U.S.
high_school	Center Moriches
(Center Moriches, New York)
college	Rutgers (1984–1988)
draft_year	1997
draft_round	1
draft_pick	6
draft_team	New York Liberty
draft_league	WNBA
career_start	1997
career_end	2002
years1	–
team1	New York Liberty
womensHOF	sue-wicks
bbr_wnba	wickssu01w
::

| name = Sue Wicks | image = Sue Wicks.jpg | caption = Wicks being honored at a Rutgers-UConn game | number = 23 | position = Forward | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 3 | weight_lb = 174 | birth_date = | birth_place = Center Moriches, New York, U.S. | high_school = Center Moriches (Center Moriches, New York) | college = Rutgers (1984–1988) | draft_year = 1997 | draft_round = 1 | draft_pick = 6 | draft_team = New York Liberty | draft_league = WNBA | career_start = 1997 | career_end = 2002 | years1 = – | team1 = New York Liberty | highlights =

• WNBA All-Star (2000)
• Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award (2001)
• Naismith College Player of the Year (1988)
• USBWA National Player of the Year (1988)
• 4× Kodak All-American (1985–1988)
• All-American – USBWA (1988)

| womensHOF = sue-wicks | bbr_wnba = wickssu01w | medaltemplates = Susan Joy Wicks (born November 26, 1966) is a former basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played with the New York Liberty from 1997 to 2002. Wicks was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

Early years

Born in Center Moriches, New York, Wicks played for Rutgers University from 1984 to 1988. While at Rutgers, she was named a Kodak All-American in 1986, 1987 and 1988, and in 1988 she won the Naismith, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Women's Basketball News Service and Street & Smith's National Player of the Year awards. She was Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1986, 1987 and 1988, winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP award in 1986 and 1988, and sharing it in 1987. She also was named to All-Regional Teams in the NCAA tournament in 1986 and 1987. She holds the Rutgers records for points scored (2,655), rebounds (1,357), scoring average (21.2 ppg), rebounding average (10.9 rpg), field goals made (1,091) and attempted (2,099), free throws made (473) and attempted (641), and blocked shots (293). The scoring and rebounding totals are records for a male or female player at Rutgers.

She was a gold medalist in the 1987 Pan-American Games.

Following her college career, she played professionally in Italy, Japan, Spain and Israel before the WNBA was founded. In 1997, she was signed for the inaugural WNBA season by the New York Liberty, to fill the role of back-up center. The Liberty played at the WNBA championship game, losing to the Houston Comets, 65–51.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 1997 | align="left" | New York |28||0||11.9||35.5||28.6||66.7||3.4||1.0||0.6||0.6||1.6||3.6 |- | align="left" | 1998 | align="left" | New York |30||0||14.8||43.0||0.0||80.0||2.8||1.2||0.5||0.3||1.6||4.3 |- | align="left" | 1999 | align="left" | New York |32||30||29.3||40.3||13.3||61.5||7.0||1.4||1.3||1.3||2.0||6.8 |- | align="left" | 2000 | align="left" | New York |32||12||21.3||38.5||20.0||72.6||4.7||0.7||0.8||1.2||1.6||4.9 |- | align="left" | 2001 | align="left" | New York |30||3||20.1||46.9||0.0||67.3||4.6||1.2||1.2||1.0||1.4||5.2 |- | align="left" | 2002 | align="left" | New York |30||0||14.3||34.3||0.0||66.7||3.4||0.5||0.7||0.5||1.0||2.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | 6 years, 1 team |182||45||18.8||40.2||13.2||69.4||4.3||1.0||0.9||0.9||1.5||4.5

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 1997 | align="left" | New York |2||0||5.5||33.3||0.0||0.0||2.0||0.5||0.5||0.5||1.5||2.0 |- | align="left" | 1999 | align="left" | New York |6||6||29.0||37.0||40.0||66.7||6.8||1.7||1.0||1.0||0.7||7.0 |- | align="left" | 2000 | align="left" | New York |7||0||18.7||34.6||100.0||100.0||3.9||0.4||1.0||1.3||0.7||3.3 |- | align="left" | 2001 | align="left" | New York |6||0||19.7||44.4||0.0||80.0||3.3||0.8||0.3||1.0||1.3||4.7 |- | align="left" | 2002 | align="left" | New York |8||0||12.0||50.0||100.0||85.7||1.5||0.3||0.1||0.5||0.8||2.6 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | 5 years, 1 team |29||6||18.3||39.5||57.1||80.0||3.6||0.7||0.6||0.9||0.9||4.1

College

Source ::data[format=table]

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1985	Rutgers	28	417	50.7%	NA	60.5%	8.8	1.5	NA	NA	14.9
1986	Rutgers	33	719	54.3%	NA	72.7%	10.1	2.5	NA	NA	21.8
1987	Rutgers	33	726	50.1%	NA	75.8%	12.2	2.5	NA	NA	22.0
1988	Rutgers	31	793	52.6%	0.0%	81.2%	12.1	2.6	2.6	2.5	25.6°
Career		125	2655	52.0%	0.0%	73.8%	10.9	2.3	0.6	0.6	21.2
::

WNBA career

On April 28, 1997, Wicks was drafted with the 6th overall pick of the 1997 WNBA draft to the New York Liberty. She would go on to play 6 seasons in the WNBA, all 6 of them being a member of the Liberty. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 67–57 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks where she recorded 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 block.

Wicks mostly came off the bench for the Liberty but did start 45 of 182 regular season games, including 30 starts (out of 32 games played) in 1999. Wicks starting in 1999 was due in part to her defensive skills. She developed into a fan favorite and was voted by the fans as a starter in the 2000 WNBA all-star game. In 2000, she received the WNBA's top award for sportsmanship, the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award.

In 1997, 1999 and 2000, Wicks and the Liberty reached the WNBA Finals, only to be beaten by the Houston Comets every time. In 2002, Wicks and the Liberty returned to the Finals again, but this time, they lost to Lisa Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks. After being defeated in the 2002 Finals, Wicks would not play in the WNBA again, as she announced her retirement on April 29, 2003. Her final WNBA game was Game 2 of the 2002 Finals on August 31, 2002. The Liberty lost the championship game to the Sparks 66 - 69 with Wicks recording 2 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal.

In 182 WNBA games played, Wicks scored 823 points, for a total of 4.5 points per game, had 182 assists for one assist per game, recovered 788 rebounds, for a total of 4.3 per game, and had 158 blocks, for a total of 0.90 blocks per game. She finished her WNBA career as the number eight leader of all times in shots blocked.

Personal life

Wicks was one of the few players willing to discuss sexual orientation in the WNBA during her career. She said, "I can't say how many players are gay ... but it would be easier to count the straight ones."{{Citation | last = Solomon | first = Alisa | title = Sue Wicks's Forward Behavior | newspaper = The Village Voice | page = 2 | date = August 8, 2000 | url = http://www.villagevoice.com/2000-08-08/news/sue-wicks-s-forward-behavior/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081023004323/http://www.villagevoice.com/2000-08-08/news/sue-wicks-s-forward-behavior/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 23, 2008 | access-date =February 8, 2010 She also said she found it "annoying" that the league almost exclusively promoted those who were mothers. "I like it when they give insight into athletes, and I think it's great when they say, 'Here's a player and her husband and baby.' But I'd love to see a couple of women profiled, too, especially if they had a great, solid relationship, just to show that in a positive light."

In 2002, she came out as gay, making her the first openly gay person playing in the WNBA.

Coaching career

Since retiring from professional basketball, Wicks formed an all-girls basketball camp in New York City. In 2004, she completed her bachelor's degree at Rutgers and was hired as the Coordinator of Operations for the Rutgers women's basketball team. In 2005, she was named an assistant coach of the team.

Wicks was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Basketball Category with the Class of 1991. She was inducted into the Rutgers Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994{{Citation |last = Henson |first = Joaquin |title = Ex-WNBA star joins Spoelstra's RP tour |newspaper = The Philippine Star |date = July 9, 2009 |url = http://www.philstar.com/articleprinterfriendly.aspx?articleid=485130 |access-date = February 8, 2010 and was inducted into the university's Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2005. She is one of only two Rutgers women's basketball players to have her jersey retired.

In July 2006, she became the Assistant Coach for the women's basketball team at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn, New York.

Hall of Fame

Wicks was inducted in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2013. She did not have a prepared speech, but spoke extemporaneously, thanking Pat Summitt for her leadership in the formation of the Hall of Fame. Her credentials included selection as a Kodak All-American three times, and the record-holder of career points and rebounds at Rutgers, records which had not been surpassed by any male or female players at Rutgers at the time of the induction. She also played professionally in the WNBA and was on the gold medal-winning USA Basketball Pan-American Games team in 1987.

References

References

1. Whiteside, Kelly. (22 August 2021). "At 25, Liberty Celebrate 'Magical Moment' in Women's Basketball".
2. "Sue Wicks".
3. "Women's Basketball Finest".
4. "Sue Wicks Player Info". WNBA.
5. "LIBERTY: Liberty Forward Sue Wicks Retires".
6. (1998-04-26). "Sue Wicks Bio". WNBA.com.
7. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Thc-CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22first+lesbian%22+wnba&pg=PA76 ''Sport in a Changing World'', by Howard Nixon II, published by Routledge on July 24, 2015, pg. 76. Google Books, Accessed 17 June 2022.]
8. (January 26, 2011). "Unhealthy climate". ESPN.
9. (June 10, 2010). "Tenth Pan American Games -- 1987". USA Basketball.
10. Cornelius, Maria M.. (June 9, 2013). "Six enter Women's Basketball HOF". ESPN.
11. (June 7, 2013). "They're the class of 2013". ESPN.

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