CJ retired at age 25.
But, just his high school jersey!
Retiring a jersey means that no one else
can ever wear that number again.
His was the first jersey retired at Pleasant Grove High School.
The night before, we had pot luck at Heidi & Mike's.
Everyone was there to support, except
Mark (legislative session) and McKay (working on new house.)
Even my mom and Kenzie were there!
At the game, everyone was there except my mom
and Heidi's family (on call)
CJ's little brother is in the white shirt.
Of course, he was born the week of the
high school state championship games!
It was nice that the high school team stayed to watch the presentation.
They can see that hard work pays off...and it can
happen to a hometown hero!
I think it's now time for an appearance in the
Strawberry Days parade!!!
I think it's now time for an appearance in the
Strawberry Days parade!!!
Cute Katie!
The event was very impressive!
The display cases were great!!!
The game was pretty exciting, too!
Pleasant Grove won by 3 points.
Katie & Kenzie
Youngest of my mom's grandchildren with the youngest
of her great grandchildren
(for a couple more months)
I was surprised that Riverton and Herriman played in this region
with AF, Lehi, PG, Lone Peak, and Westlake.
But, when I was in high school in the mid-1970's, our
region had AF, Lehi, PG, Springville, Spanish Fork, Payson,
Carbon (Price) and Uintah (Vernal.)
And the cute collages of Kim & Lori:
I videoed (Really? Is that how you spell it?)
the Channel 13 segment about it.
Someone needs to show me how to post it!!!
Anyway, here's the Daily Herald article:
PLEASANT GROVE - The state championship banners from football, baseball, volleyball and wrestling have been imported from Pleasant Grove’s old gym to hang on the wall in its new, spacious gym. There’s even championship banners to honor the state basketball title the Vikings won in 1915, but one thing that the new facility doesn’t have is a retired jersey.
Until now.
On Friday night, when Pleasant Grove hosted Riverton, that all changed when the school honored C.J. Wilcox by retiring his jersey. The presentation was made during a brief halftime ceremony.
Wilcox, who is currently playing for the LA Clippers, used the NBA All-Star break to make a visit to his old school.
“It’s great to be back in Pleasant Grove. This is amazing. It’s not anything I was expecting,” Wilcox said. “Initially I told my friends and family that I don’t think I deserve having my jersey retired, but it’s awesome. It’s a special thing. I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was until I got here.”
Wilcox graduated from Pleasant Grove in 2009. He averaged 23.8 points per game as a senior and went on to have a successful college career at the University of Washington.
As a senior, he averaged 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He finished his career with 1,880 points, second best in school history. He has the school record for most career 3-pointers made with 301.
The LA Clippers drafted Wilcox in the first round (28th overall) of the 2014 draft.
“It was a big deal to me and the program and it was a huge deal to him and his family, so I felt a lot of pressure to put on a good show tonight for that because he deserves it,” said Pleasant Grove coach Randy McAllister. “This is a rare, rare thing to get to celebrate so I wanted it to come off nice. I hope everyone was happy with it. I was thrilled to death that C.J. could make it tonight and that we could do this for him.”
Wilcox has played in just eight of the Clippers 53 games. He’s been the subject of trade rumors as the NBA trading deadline approaches but he said he hopes to stay in Los Angeles.
“The trade deadline is coming up so I’m not sure what’s going to happen but I’m hoping to stay and have a future there. I think it’s a great situation playing for Doc Rivers and with Chris Paul. You can’t find too many situations that are better than that,” Wilcox said. “I think staying patient is the key, it’s just the situation I’m in.
"I’ve got arguably the best shooter in the NBA in front of me in J.J. Redick as well as Jamal Crawford, who has been in the NBA for 16 years and has put a lot of points on the board. I’ve just been told to be patient and put in the work and my time will come.”
The school used one of its trophy cases to put together a display that features photos of Wilcox along with his jerseys from Pleasant Grove, Washington and the Clippers.
“It’s amazing and awesome to see that display,” Wilcox said. “It’s so well put together. It’s exceeding my expectations and I’m proud to be here.”
Pleasant Grove beat Riverton 46-43. A baseline dunk from Matt McCarty with 1:25 left in the game gave the Vikings a 44-41 lead. Ryan Kesler answered for Riverton with 1:15 remaining. Pleasant Grove ran down the clock but missed a shot, giving the Silverwolves a chance for the win but they were called for traveling with 2.7 seconds left.
Keegan Coon then added two free throws to finish off the game and help Pleasant Grove improve to 6-3 in Region 4. Brody Childs had 12 points and both McCarty and Coon finished with 10 for the Vikings. Joseph Andrews led Riverton with 15.
“We’re a Jekyll and Hyde team and that was several times during the game. We were good then we’re bad,” McAllister said. “We’ve got to get some consistency really quickly in the next week or we’ll find ourselves on the outside looking in.”
