When John Calipari used to scout AAU tournaments all over the country, he always knew how to find Immanuel Quickley’s family.
Calipari could stand in these massive gyms with 10 courts and just listen. “And what did I hear?” he asked at Quickley’s recent Baltimore Catholic League Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The winningest active men’s college basketball coach pointed to a colony of round tables in the front row.
“Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!” the Quickley family belted. The ballroom burst into laughter. “As soon as I heard that,” said Calipari, the current Arkansas coach who coached Quickley at Kentucky, “I knew which court he was on.”
Quickley’s family in Harford County has been present at every step of his hoops ascension, including his time playing at John Carroll. They are the life behind his success, making their voices heard traveling all over the world to support his dreams.
His mom, Nitrease, a former sharpshooter at Morgan State and her son’s first coach, is now the assistant principal at Joppatowne High School. She can be seen roaming the halls in her son’s No. 5 Raptors jersey. When Nitrease would get tied up at work, Immanuel’s aunts, uncles, grandparents and godparents were sure to be at every game, even if they crammed into tiny hotels in foreign countries.
“My parents took him to Italy,” Nitrease said. “They went to Spain. They went to Egypt. His family was right there in the stands. When you look at old videos of him playing on the [U17 and U19 World Cup] USA teams, we were right there the whole time.”
Last year, a video went viral on X, formerly Twitter, that gave a peek behind the curtain of Quickley’s recruitment. There they sat, seven family members visible in the video with two more joining by FaceTime through an iPad from Mexico – because they couldn’t miss such a formative meeting – while Calipari gave his spiel luring Immanuel to Kentucky.
“I didn’t even know I was being taped when I did the home visit,” Calipari deadpanned before breaking out into a mixture of shock and laughter. “They taped me, I didn’t know they were taping me. … They’re special people.”
In the family living room, Calipari spoke about development, competition versus playing time and the ultimate goal of getting a second contract in the NBA. Check, check and this summer should produce a lucrative, second deal.
Immanuel appeared in all 37 games in his freshman season for the Wildcats but only started seven. Nitrease remembers Calipari making it very clear in that meeting that his next steps would be the toughest of his life. Calipari was honest about the work it would take. Immanuel improved leaps and bounds heading into his sophomore year, rising from key reserve scoring 5.2 points per game to one of the best scorers in the country averaging 16.1.
The Quickleys used to load into their Honda Odyssey and road trip to Lexington, Kentucky, for home games every other weekend. “There was always someone who would want to go,” Nitrease said.
When Immanuel began his pro career with the New York Knicks, selected 25th overall in the 2020 NBA draft, they could frequently make the two and a half hour drive north without refilling the gas tank.
In December, Quickley was traded out of New York alongside R.J. Barrett and a second-round pick to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a three-player package centered around OG Anunoby. Quickley was stunned. He posted on X, “Oh my goodness….” He penned a heartfelt goodbye to the city in The Players’ Tribune.
“Just so you know, Knicks did not want to trade him,” Calipari said. “Toronto would not do the trade unless he was in. You know I know the Knicks people. So I’m just telling you, they did not want to move him. But it’s a great opportunity for him to make that step.”
Quickley added of his nascent career: “There are still things that happen throughout the season where I’m like, ‘Wow, this was really my dream as a kid, as a 5 year old.’ … It’s great to see all the people that have had a hand in helping me reach this level.”
Now back in Baltimore during the offseason, he returns the favor of the love and support he got from his family, like by traveling to Florida to see his younger sister, Shiloah, in a volleyball tournament this last weekend.
To the BCL crowd Thursday night, Immanuel told a recent story that, to him, is indicative of his basketball upbringing.
“I was at BWI last week on my way to Miami,” he said. “I got to BWI and the flight got canceled.”
Quickley got rerouted to Washington, D.C. for a flight that could get him to Miami under the time crunch. After a fit with D.C. traffic, he finally got to the airport and was met by “a lady with a lot of attitude.”
“Can you please help me get on this flight? I need to get on this flight to get to Miami,” Quickley said. The lady with the attitude told him, “It’ll be nearly impossible. There’s probably no way you’re getting on this flight.”
He wouldn’t fold that easily. He had to at least try. And he barely made it, to the point the folks at his gate got on the loudspeaker, “Immanuel Quickley we’re boarding the plane. Can you please hurry up?”
Quickley nestled into his seat and thought for a moment. What if he listened to the first woman who looked him in the eye and told him he couldn’t make it?
In basketball terms, she represented an existential figure telling him that he couldn’t make it when he struggled for court time early on at Kentucky. Or when his playing time waned in New York while fighting for a consistent role.
Immanuel never listened. He trusted the work and persevered.
Nitrease watched her son walk into the Turf Valley Resort ballroom ahead of his induction. She watched as Quickley, outfitted in a suit with complementary shades of purple and mauve, shared big hugs and posed for pictures before even getting through the double doors. She beamed with pride the way only a mother could.
“There’s nothing greater than family,” Nitrease said. “You can achieve all kinds of things but when you have your family to share it with you, it makes it all the better.”
