One of Niles’ great athletes, Dillard Crocker, passed away last week at the age of 89.

A member of the Niles High School 1942 state championship basketball team, Crocker was so talented that he went on to play professional basketball for five years on several different teams, including the Denver Nuggets of the NBA in 1949.

Of all his sports memories, Crocker said his biggest thrill was returning to Niles with his high school basketball team after winning the state championship.

“(We were) greeted by what seemed to be the entire city of Niles,” Crocker said in a 2002 interview with Niles historian and step-cousin Donna Ochenryder. “There was at least a five-mile long line of cars bumper to bumper filled with cheering fans. A parade with city officials, high school band. I will never forget it.”

Ochenryder said while Dillard will be remembered for his ability as an athlete, she believes his true legacy is being a positive role model for the greater Niles community.

“My impression of him is he wanted to be a good example that kids would look up to,” she said. “I believe he did that in his timeframe. He was Mr. Niles Sports. He could do it all — basketball, golf, football, baseball.”

Dillard’s daughter, Julie Crocker, said she did not get to spend much time with her father because he always “wanted to be with the boys.”

Julie said she got to make up for that lost time by visiting him every morning over the last few months. The two would sit on the porch and talk for hours about everything from his time in the military to his glory years playing basketball.

“I just enjoyed that so much — being able to be with him,” she said. “He was a great guy and he was a star, a legend in Niles. I never knew that side of him.”

Julie said she’s received a number of calls from people whose lives Dillard impacted, including one from a former Cassopolis basketball player that brought her to tears. The caller told her that while Dillard worked as a referee, he would stay after the game to talk with the players about what they did right and what they did wrong and how to get better.

“It made me cry to hear how sorry he was that he was gone and how much he enjoyed when my dad talked to him after the game,” Julie said. “I didn’t know that about him. I didn’t know that’s what the guys thought about him. I just sat there and cried.”