By Scott Venci
GREEN BAY – The legend of Keifer Sykes at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay started before he even played his first game.
The 5-foot-11 point guard was in the locker room with his new teammates before the season. They were goofing around and coming up with nicknames for themselves, telling people how to refer to them.
Sykes took his turn.
He told them they could call him the starting PG.
Sykes was a baby-faced and hardly recruited 17-year-old, the youngest player in the nation who arrived on campus with UWGB and Eastern Illinois the only two NCAA Division I programs to offer him a scholarship.
But a star most definitely was born that day, not to mention a prophetic one.
Sykes was in the starting lineup the first game of the season against the University of Mary, becoming the first true freshman since Rahmon Fletcher four years earlier to start at guard for UWGB.
He finished with six points, two assists and three steals in 19 minutes, kicking off what turned out to be one of the best careers in school history.
t only was a matter of time before the school retired Sykes’ No. 24 jersey after he graduated in 2015.
That moment will arrive Oct. 11 in UWGB’s exhibition game at the Kress Center against a Bradley team coached by Brian Wardle, the man who recruited Sykes to Green Bay.
Sykes will join former standouts Tony Bennett, Jeff Nordgaard, Dennis Woelffer, Tom Anderson and Ron Ripley as the only players in UWGB men’s history to have their number retired.
Sykes wore No. 11 during his prep days at Marshall High School in Chicago. Most players from the school during his era wore No. 24 during their college careers. It was a tradition he wanted to continue.
He also thought about NBA great Kobe Bryant and his Mamba Mentality.
“It means a lot,” Sykes said of the jersey retirement. “It means legacy for my family. It means community, everyone in Green Bay that raised me. That city took me in as a 17-year-old kid. I’ve always been trying to help build the university, the program. Help share that energy and culture with all the kids that have been fans.
“Then it just means a lot of love. There are a lot of good players and great players that have never had their jersey put up in an arena or organization or university or school. It’s just beyond any of my dreams and imagination, and I’m just filled with love because of it.”
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A UWGB homecoming for Keifer Sykes
The Chicago native has returned to Green Bay many times since graduating a decade ago, including hosting basketball camps in the area.
He even is taking the time to host another camp hours before he attends the jersey retirement ceremony.
Sykes is holding a free camp at Green Bay East for kids from second through sixth grades from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 11.
UWGB has brought him back into the mix after second-year coach Doug Gottlieb hired Sykes as the team’s general manager this summer.
Sykes will assist in student-athlete mentorship and development, recruiting analysis, community and alumni engagement, and fundraising.
He held off on signing a pro contract so he could both enjoy this weekend and start his gig with the Phoenix. Even when he’s overseas, he will provide a service in his new role.
“He has played in some of these countries that we are recruiting in,” Gottlieb said. “He knows what a Horizon League player looks like, because the Horizon League was better when he was in it then it is now, if we are honest with ourselves.
“He can connect with current players — they all like him — and with future players to help us with recruiting.”
Gottlieb also wants to bring back former UWGB players to continue to reunite the Phoenix family with hopes of building the program into the best in the Horizon.
Sykes is a big step in that direction. He was made for this role long before his college career.
He always watched his father, James, give back to the Chicago community as the longtime vice president of the Broadway Armory Park gym on the north side.
James died in 2012, but his son carries on his legacy.
“I wish he was able to see this,” Sykes said. “To have this role that he had as vice president of a gym and things like that, I always wanted to give back. It’s definitely an exciting chapter for me as I am able to give back to the game and the basketball intelligence and just my experiences from playing in every top league in the world and dealing with the best agencies in the world.
“I feel like I was an underdog and had to go through so many obstacles on my journey. To help others on their journey, especially during this time of NIL and where they get money, it’s nice to help them manage all this. I’m very excited for it, and to be part of the university is just icing on the cake.”
Please read the full story: UWGB men’s basketball to celebrate all-time great Keifer Sykes with jersey retirement,