Immanuel Quickley among 10 inducted into Baltimore Catholic League Hall of Fame
ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND - Faith. Family. Determination. It’s been the foundation of Immanuel Quickley’s basketball journey.
Thursday evening, the Toronto Raptor guard and former star at the University of Kentucky was inducted into the Baltimore Catholic League Basketball Hall of Fame.
Quickley was one of 10 new members honored at Turf Valley Resort. Players Will Bowers (Archbishop Spalding), Tim Coles (Cardinal Gibbons), Bob Connor (Mount St. Joseph), Malcolm Delaney (Towson Catholic), Mark Kauffman (Calvert Hall), John Miller (Mount St. Joseph) and Sean Mosley (St. Frances Academy) as well as former St. Maria Goretti teacher and basketball statistician Jim Martin joined Quickley, who averaged 18.6 points, 6.8 assists and 4.8 assists for Toronto after being traded from the New York Knicks in late December.
Quickley became the first player from John Carroll School inducted into the BCL Hall of Fame. In four seasons (2014-2018), he led the Bel Air, Maryland program to two BCL Tournament championship games, claiming the top prize in 2016. The 6-foot-3 guard hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation, giving the Patriots a 51-50 victory over Mount St. Joseph.
Tony Martin, who coached Quickley for three seasons, knew he was destined for great things when he attended Martin’s summer camps.
“His understanding of the game was advanced beyond his years,” said Martin. “By his sophomore seasons, he was playing with a maturity that allowed him to lead a senior-dominated lineup to the BCL championship.”
“There was something about him…you saw how driven he was, you saw how respectful he was, he was a culture guy,” said University of Arkansas coach John Calipari, who coached Quickley at Kentucky where Quickley was the SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Calipari traveled to Maryland for Quickley’s induction ceremony and was the featured guest speaker.
Calipari, who coached Quickley on the U.S. National Under-19 team, was enamored with Quickley as a sophomore in high school. When he was pursuing him at various AAU circuit events on the summer recruiting trail, Calipari joked he would follow the sounds of “woop, woop,” made by Quickley’s family in the stands, to track him down.
More than a dozen of family and friends were “wooping” it up for Thursday evening for Quickley, who became the 77th inductee into the BCL Hall of Fame.
“It’s not about success that’s going to define you, but really it’s about overcoming adversity and overcoming failure,” said Quickley.