Rick Stukes’ journey took him from high school hardwoods to the pinnacle of parquet.

It’s been nearly two decades since Rick Stukes chose the love of his life and her quiet hometown of Jasper over basketball. For decades, it had been the game that captured his heart and took him to the bustling metropolises and college campuses all over North America.

In 2005, Stukes retired from his role as an advanced scout for the Washington Wizards and closed the book on an illustrious 30-year coaching career. Two years later, he was inducted into the Morgan County (AL) Sports Hall of Fame.

“I truly enjoyed my job because it allowed me to be involved in the sport I loved,” Stukes says. “I had the opportunity to watch and coach many basketball games at all levels of the sport, from high school to the pros. Coaching allowed me to meet interesting people and experience so many different things.”

Growing up in Decatur, Stukes’ obsession with sports began at an early age. He participated in the holy trinity of American athletics—baseball, football, and basketball—competing against his friends in boys’ club youth leagues. His father would also bring him and his twin brother to the golf course on the weekends.

“It was my father that got my brother and me into golf,” Stukes said. “Our family owned a driving range in the area, so we spent a lot of time out there working. My brother passed a couple of years ago. Those are good memories.”

Stukes was an All-State basketball player at Austin High and a member of the varsity golf team. The heart of a champion was unveiled at Tuscaloosa’s Memorial Coliseum when Stukes, then a senior, led his team to the 4A Alabama Basketball Championship in 1973. The player who hit the game-winning shot against top-ranked Carver High School?

None other than Rick Stukes.

“The Decatur community supports us and gave us a lot. And for us to win the state championships, we were able to give something back. There’s never been a feeling like it,” Stukes told the Decatur Daily in 2007.

Stukes played four years of collegiate basketball on a scholarship, two years at Alabama Christian Junior College, and two years at Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM). “My dad appreciated me getting a free education,” he says.

After four years of collegiate basketball, Stukes’ passion for the game hadn’t waned, and he seamlessly transitioned to the sidelines, working as a graduate assistant at AUM. It was during this hands-on internship that Stukes’ coaching career found its origin. In 1979, he accepted his first head coaching job at Central Alabama Academy and won the Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) state championship.

In 1980, Stukes left Montgomery and took over the assistant coaching role at the University of North Alabama (UNA). He guided those men to the Gulf South Conference crown and the NCAA Division II Elite 8.

Soon, coaching opportunities opened for Stukes all over the South. Stukes made stops at Columbus State, LSU, Georgia Southern, Valdosta State, UAB, and Auburn University. LSU was an inflection point in his career because he began working as an assistant coach for their women’s program in Louisiana. Initially, he was brought in to coach the golf program but found himself sitting courtside for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. UAB and Auburn hired him to work as an assistant coach for their programs. Auburn went NCAA women’s Elite 8 in 1996, and Stukes’ time in college sports would end with that team’s run. That June, he was hired to be an advanced scout for the Orlando Magic and an assistant coach for the Orlando Miracle of the WNBA.

Stukes says his journey was taken by simply following the opportunities set in front of him, and he couldn’t have dreamed the boy who grew up on the courts of Decatur would reach the highest level of basketball. “In my early years, I wasn’t in the highest assistant coaching position, so I’d move on after a year or two. I was single at the time and able to travel. I moved from D-II school to D-I school. Each new job was built on the last,” he says. “I never imagined I’d end up in the NBA.” 78