It's been 27 years since Wondrous Willie Wise left Utah under a cloud of mystery. A quiet man, he didn't always explain his motives. He was said to have been dissatisfied with his contract. Some said he was a Bay Area soul, lost in the Utah wilds.
Years later, he said he simply didn't like the way the Stars treated his teammate and friend Zelmo Beaty.
In truth, it was probably a combination. Wise left training camp and never played another basketball game with the ABA's Utah Stars. The contract dispute escalated to the point that he vowed never to return, and he kept his word. He once told a reporter that he drove through Utah on the way to somewhere else, but didn't stay.
To use the vernacular of the day, Utah just wasn't his bag.
Nothing personal, at least on Wise's part. He said the state treated him well. It's just that it wasn't home, or even a reasonable facsimile. There weren't many blacks, and he couldn't even find a good seafood restaurant.
He felt like a stranger in a foreign land.
In some ways, the thing that made Willie wondrous is that he stuck around for four seasons. He didn't like the town, the social life stunk and he felt the Stars did Beaty a disservice by asking him to be player/coach but refusing to raise his pay. Beaty left, and with him gone, Wise wanted out. He demanded a trade but was rebuffed. Eventually he played for the Virginia Squires of the now-defunct ABA. He also spent time on a minor league team in San Francisco and played in Denver and Seattle in the NBA, before injuries shortened his career. He retired to a quiet life in Washington State, pursuing a lifelong ambition of driving a cement truck.
Wise is among 10 to be inducted into the Utah Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday at 6 p.m. at the downtown Hilton. Tickets are $100, available at the door. Proceeds go to support sudden trauma accident victims.
Also being inducted are Cornell Green (USU), Jerry Chambers (Utah), Kathy Miller (Weber State), Brett Vroman and Glenn Smith (high school), Dick Motta and Cecil Baker (coaching) and the late Kresimir Cosic (BYU) and Bill Daniels (contributor).
This year's ceremony marks the third year of the awards. Wise got in on the merits of his pro career with the Stars. He averaged 18 points and was a two-time second-team All-ABA selection in Utah. In at least one sense, he was a player who would have thrived in Utah even now, under Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. A top-level defender, he once said his goal was to become the best stopper in the ABA.
What began three years ago as an optimistic endeavor has grown into a prestigious event. This year's group makes 30 inductees — and there's not a no-name in the bunch. Utah is, after all, a place where good players flourish. They arrive or grow up here, playing to large crowds, knowledgeable fans and exceptional coaches.
Consequently, the list of Hall of Fame inductees was impressive from the start. The first year included, among others, Wayne Estes, Danny Ainge, Stan Watts, Larry H. Miller, Fern Gardner, Adrian Dantley and Beaty. Last year, Arnie Ferrin, Ron Boone, Ladell Andersen and Billy McGill made the cut.
Choosing an All-Star team from this group would be a pleasure, as well as a challenge. All had distinguished careers, either as high schoolers, collegians, pros, coaches or contributors. They knew and loved the game.
It's safe to say you wouldn't have to explain the triangle offense or pick-and-roll to any of them.
Each helped make Utah a place where basketball is highly regarded.
Which brings us back to the enigmatic Wise, who left so suddenly. Contacted by the selection committee last spring about the awards ceremony, he indicated he would attend in November. Now it appears he won't. First, he said he had a trip scheduled to Puerto Rico, then he said he was going to Canada.
In either case, he wasn't planning on going through Salt Lake.
"Can you hold the ceremony a week later?" he asked.
Ironically, the same player who skipped town so abruptly 27 years ago will become the only living inductee ever to have missed the ceremony. Motta will be there. So will Green, Chambers, Vroman, etc. Ana Cosic, daughter of the late Kresimir Cosic, will be there in her father's behalf.
It should be a night of remembering, as well as a night to remember.
You might say it's a must-see event.
Just don't plan on seeing Wondrous Willie.
E-mail: rock@desnews.com