Back to the Pacific Tigers Newsfeed

Gentle Giant: Basketball legend, coach Bill Stricker dies at 72

Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON – He was one of University of the Pacific’s most honored basketball players, a successful high school coach and an accomplished educator.

But Bill Stricker never cared for trophies or accolades. To him, personal relationships were proof of a life well lived.

Stricker, who was a 6-foot-8 gentleman with a booming voice and positive attitude, rose to play in the NBA and Europe before a long career as a coach and teacher at East Union High School. He passed away Friday peacefully of natural causes at his home in Stockton.