Larry Parker’s daughter, Candace, needs no introduction. She is one of the best female basketball players in the world.

Parker's son, Anthony, was the 21st overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft and played a total of nine seasons in the NBA and six in Isreal. His other son, Marcus, is a neurosurgeon.

“Everything I learned here in Joliet, I passed on vigorously to my kids,” Parker said.

When Parker told his children that he and his younger brother, Michael, would be honored at the 11th annual Joliet Township Athletic Booster Club Night of Champions last Thursday at IBEW 176 Hall, they had the same response:

"Why? What did you do?"

Parker, who resides in Naperville, played high school ball in the era when Central's Roger Powell Sr. was the "name" in Joliet. Truth be known, however, Parker was one of the best all-around players in Joliet West and Joliet Township history. He went on to letter at Iowa for four years, starting for three.

"I was the best-kept secret around here," Parker said with a laugh. "But Roger [Powell] was a great player. No doubt about it, he was fantastic. I actually got calls from quite a few college coaches – Bobby Knight included – because they noticed me when they came to see Roger when we were playing against Central."

West won the 1971-72 Illini-8 title with a 12-2 record as the two Parkers were joined in the lineup by the likes of Dick Fick, Kevin Hogan, Dan Hillesland and John Cottrell.

"The only trouble with Larry was he was too unselfish," said Bill Edwards, Parker's coach at West. "He would rather pass the ball to one of his teammates than score himself."

If you were not fortunate enough to see Larry Parker play, Pat Sullivan, who coached at Providence during that era and then spent 34 years coaching St. Francis, filled everyone in via a video presentation.

"Larry was a smooth player," Sullivan said. "If there was an NBA player of Larry's ilk, it's Bernard King. Larry could score and he was so long that you couldn't score against him.

"More important, though, Larry Parker is a Hall of Famer off the court."

The two Parkers – Michael later starred at Lewis – were among the honorees as the booster club, in its usual fashion, hit another home run.

"Michael was a shy young man but he was built like a Greek god," Edwards said of the younger Parker. "He didn't come out for basketball his early years in high school because he didn't want to be seen in those short basketball shorts."

"Michael's game was the opposite of Larry's," Sullivan said. "He was a power player. He could take you inside or outside. And now, Michael Parker is a star of the business world."

The honorees were feted through the video presentations that are a trademark of this annual event. In addition to the Parkers, former Joliet Central girls track and cross country coach Ken Gill and the Joliet West football teams of 1968 and 1969, which went a combined 16-1-1 under the late legendary coach, Ray Klootwyk, were honored.

Longtime Central coach Tony Juarez was cited as "Steelman of the Year" and West Principal Dr. Teresa Gibson was selected "Tiger of the Year."

Gill coached girls track with Al Pagnusat, who told a humorous story about how they told officials at a sectional track meet in Naperville that they would send Fawn Liebowitz to monitor one of the events. Anyone familiar with the movie "Animal House" may recall that Fawn Liebowitz never appeared in the movie. She was the girl who died in an accident.

The Steelmen happened to win the sectional, and neither Gill nor Pagnusat wanted to go up to the meet officials and accept the plaque. So they sent their girls up to accept it.

About a dozen members of the two West football teams that were honored attended the banquet. George Barr recalled West beating Joliet Catholic, 12-7, at Memorial Stadium in in 1968 in the first spectacular featuring the four Joliet high schools – West, Central, East and Joliet Catholic. "Both of us were rated in the top 10 teams in the state," Barr noted.

West finished that season 9-0, closing with a 7-6 win over Joliet Central. The Tigers extended their winning streak to 22 games in 1969 before they fell to St. Viator, 22-14. They beat Central, 8-6, in the season finale to claim another conference championship.

Juarez and Gibson both received standing ovations, so popular were their selections as "Steelman of the Year" and "Tiger of the Year." Jeff Clinton, a former West assistant principal now living in California, was hilarious in his video tribute to Gibson. Steve Millsaps, the West athletic director, wasn't bad, either.

Glen Marcum, president of the athletic booster club and co-chair of the banquet with Joliet Township Director of Activities and Athletics Chris Olson, noted the event has raised more than $250,000 for Joliet Township athletics in its first 11 years.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.