A gift from Lee and Becky Nimnicht to Jacksonville University’s “Future. Made.” campaign will include a lead contribution for the commission of a permanent statue of JU basketball legend and NBA Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore, the university announced May 13.
“In 92 years, Jacksonville University has honored only one person with a permanent statue on this campus, our matriarch Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne, and now we are proud to add a second, the greatest JU student-athlete ever, Artis Gilmore,” JU President Tim Cost said in a news release. “He elevated this university onto the national stage as a student-athlete and has remained a treasured ambassador for our institution for more than five decades. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Lee and Becky Nimnicht, future generations of Dolphins will always know his legacy.”
The university said Lee Nimnicht, a 1990 graduate, is among JU’s most dedicated advocates. The Nimnicht name is woven throughout campus, including Billy Nimnicht Jr. Court named after his father inside Swisher Gymnasium, Nimnicht Fitness Center and Nimnicht Family Scholarships.
In addition to serving a second term on the JU board of trustees, his mother, Anne, and his father, Billy, also served on the board. His son, Lee Nimnicht Jr., continues the family tradition as a current JU student and graduate assistant in the athletics department.
“Jacksonville University has been a part of my family for as long as I can remember, and that connection only deepens with time,” Lee Nimnicht said in the release. “Artis Gilmore is the reason so many people first heard the name Jacksonville University. He helped put Jacksonville on the map, and we are proud to play a role in honoring his legacy in this way.”
JU said Gilmore, nicknamed “The A-Train,” helped take the Dolphins to the 1970 NCAA men’s basketball championship game, which UCLA won 80-69.
Gilmore’s career rebounding average of 22.7 per game remains the highest in NCAA Division I history. Following his time at JU, Gilmore went on to a 17-season professional career in the ABA and NBA and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011.
“Jacksonville University has given me so much — a place to grow, a team to believe in, and a community that never stopped believing in me,” Gilmore said in the release. “Those years as a Dolphin shaped everything that came after. This is where my heart is. To know that a piece of that will live on permanently on this campus is something I never could have imagined, and I am truly humbled by it.”
The bronze sculpture of Gilmore will be created by Hanlon Sculpture Studio, led by Brian Hanlon. Based in Toms River, New Jersey, Hanlon is the official sculptor of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and has completed more than 550 permanent installations worldwide, including tributes to Shaquille O’Neal, Dominique Wilkins and Charles Barkley.