NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State Percy Family Hall of Fame member and Redbird basketball legend Rick Whitlow passed away on Tuesday, March 2.
Whitlow, who played at ISU from 1972-75, was a member of the 1980 class of the Percy Family Hall of Fame, and ranks 15th all-time in program history in scoring (1,377), despite only playing three varsity seasons with the Redbirds, as freshmen were not eligible to play during his first season at ISU.
The 1975 graduate is one of just four players in program history to have scored 50 or more points in a game, as he scored 51 against Southern Illinois on January 4, 1975. He also ranks seventh in career field goals made (626) and ninth in career field goals attempted (1,237). He was drafted by the NBA's Houston Rockets and ABA's Memphis Pros.
Born in Michigan City, Indiana, Whitlow spent time after graduating working as a radio analyst for football and basketball for WJBC in Bloomington, Illinois, and spent 25 years in television broadcasting with WPTZ-TV in Plattsburgh, New York, and for WJIT-TV and WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi. He was also a published author of the book Swagger, The life and Times of Rick Whitlow.
This past June, Whitlow was one of the special guests for the weekly social media segment "Monday Meetings with Dan Muller". To view the 18-minute interview between Whitlow and Muller, click HERE.
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