Roger Powell Sr., a local basketball legend who continued to contribute to Joliet after his playing days, has died.

He died Saturday at the age of 71.

Powell’s scoring prowess at Joliet Central High School made him a household name in the city in the early 1970s.

He went on to a stellar college career at Illinois State University before returning to Joliet, where Powell organized a neighborhood basketball league and initiated other efforts to help young people in the lower income neighborhood in which he grew up.

“So many of the endeavors that I enjoy working with, like my own foundation, called the Roger Powell Children’s Committee, we’re trying to build facilities for children," Powell told The Herald-News in a 2006 interview when he was inducted into the Joliet Area Sports Hall of Fame.

“We’re taking them on trips,” Powell continued. “We’re doing basketball camps. We’re putting on seminars, dealing with the modern times, you name it, drugs, alcoholism, things that are societal problems. You need to step to the forefront and be a role model or try to give the people a voice. Because being a sports figure, people tend to look up to you.”

People did look up to Powell, said John Randich, a teammate on the 1970s basketball teams who later became a principal at Joliet Central.

“He was well respected in the school,” said Randich, who was in home room with Powell as well as being on the basketball team with him. “He was a leader in the school as well as on the basketball team.”

Even in off-season pick-up games, which served the purpose of traveling teams in a simpler era when the teams would compete without supervision in the school gyms at Fairmont in Lockport and St. Patrick’s in Joliet, Powell would “hold court” and have the final say “if there was an argument about a call,” Randich said.

In the 1969-70 season, Joliet Central made a memorable run at the state title but finished third.

Powell’s contributions to the effort were notable. A sophomore that year, Powell was the leading scorer in the tournament.

A Herald-News article in 2010 about Powell’s high school achievements noted that he averaged nearly 35 points a game in his senior year.

Despite his basketball stardom, Powell was unsuccessful in several election campaigns in which he attempted to be elected to the Joliet City Council.

But his credibility in the community led to Powell being appointed to the board of the Housing Authority of Joliet in 2013 during a leadership shake-up at a time that federal regulators wanted changes in the agency.

Then-Mayor Thomas Giarrante, who like Powell grew up in an area of Joliet often called the South End, appointed him to the housing authority.

“I really thought a lot of him,” Giarrante said Tuesday looking back at the appointment. “I knew him long enough that I thought he would do a great job.”

Powell served on the board until his death.

He was joined on the board at one point by Glenda McCullom, who now is chairwoman of the board and also grew up in the same neighborhood as Powell.

“When we got together for board meetings, he would share stories on how we would chase him home from school,” McCullom said, remembering how she and other girls would chase boys for fun in those days.

McCullom and Powell went to Eliza Kelly Grade School, which has since been closed, and Washington Junior High School before attending Joliet Central.

Powell had diverse interests and his passions went far beyond basketball, McCullom said.

“Roger loved Jesus. He loved the Lord,” McCullom said, noting God often was a part of their discussions. “That was always in his conversation – his love for God."

Basketball may have been in his blood though.

His son, Roger Powell Jr., has made a name for himself in the game.

Powell Jr. was a starter in the University of Illinois team that went to the NCAA championship game in 2005 but fell short by five points to the University of North Carolina.

He now is the head basketball coach at Valparaiso University in Indiana.

Powell Sr.’s mark at Illinois State University was evident when the university posted notice of his death on Saturday and described him as a “Redbird basketball legend.”

For those who were part of Powell’s era, he will remain a special part of Joliet.

“He was a star player,” Randich said, “and a star person as well.”

Visitation for Powell will be 5-7 p.m. on April 1 at Minor-Morris Funeral Home, 112 Richards St. in Joliet. Other details of the arrangements have not yet been posted.