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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

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

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. In his junior year in 1973, Wise led Dunbar to a victory over DeMatha High School, led by future NBA star Adrian Dantley. Wise then played at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

and was the first freshman to win first team all-conference honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wise left Clemson after his freshman year, signing with the

Baltimore Claws The Baltimore Claws were an American basketball team which was supposed to appear in the 1975–76 season in the American Basketball Association. The team collapsed before the season started, playing only three exhibition games, all losses, in it ...

of the American Basketball Association 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 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 Warriors dropped him after a few 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 league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

and appeared briefly in two games; they were his only 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 produc ...

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 Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards San Antonio Spurs players