Basketball Legend Teams Up With LI Students To Fight Substance Abuse

RIVERHEAD, NY — A basketball legend is set to share her strategies for substance abuse prevention with Riverhead students Friday.

Sue Wicks, a WNBA superstar and Olympic gold medal winner, will serve as the keynote speaker at the 37th Annual Riverhead CAP "Say NO to Drugs March," which takes place Friday, beginning at 9:30 am., in front of the Pulaski Street Intermediate School.

The march will then head south on Roanoke Avenue, west on 2nd Street past Town Hall, and return to Pulaski Street via Griffing Avenue and Hallett Avenue.

Sponsored by the Riverhead Community Awareness Program, the march is the culmination of CAP’s annual anti-drug program, which provides students with education about, and skills for, leading a drug-free life, the district has long maintained.

As part of the program, trained community volunteers and eighth-grade peer leaders teach several anti-drug workshops throughout the school year to fifth, sixth, and seventh-graders.

Following the march, there will be a brief ceremony on the steps of Pulaski where Sue Wicks — now an oyster farmer who lives in Mastic Beach — will address the students and community, the Riverhead town board, and elected officials. After the ceremony, the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge #1742 will serve a picnic lunch to all students and guests.

"A true basketball icon, Sue Wicks played for the New York Liberty from 1997 until 2002 during the first years of the WNBA’s existence. Before her professional career, Wicks was an international star, winning gold medals at the 1988 Olympics and 1987 Pan-American Games," the Riverhead Central School District said.

Wicks played for Rutgers University from 1984 to 1988, finishing as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,655 points and all-time leading rebounder with 1,357 rebounds, the district added.

As the most decorated player in Rutgers basketball history, she holds the university records—male or female—for points scored, scoring average, rebounds, rebounding average, blocked shots, field goals made and attempted, and free throws made and attempted, the district said.

Wicks was the second Rutgers women’s basketball player to have her jersey retired. During her high school career on Long Island, Wicks played at Center Moriches High School, "shattering the record" for most points scored in a game at 59 points, the district said.