Skip Wise

Who is Skip Wise?

Allen Harper "Skip" Wise, Jr. was an American basketball player.

Wise was a sensation as a high school player at Dunbar High School in Baltimore, Maryland. 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 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 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, so Wise then signed with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors cut him after a few days, however, with Wise's drug use as a major reason. Later in the 1975-76 season, Wise hooked on with the San Antonio Spurs, playing two games, his only games as a professional.

Wise eventually served prison time for drug-related crimes in the 1970s and 1980s, before returning home to Baltimore and working in a local community center.