PEORIA, Ill. — A sea of family, friends, and community members gathered Thursday to honor Manual High School graduate and hoops star, Howard Nathan Jr., with a street sign.
The sign, at the corner of W. Proctor and Madison Park Terrace, will serve as a reminder said his brother, Charles Nathan.
“Hopefully it will bring us closer as a community,” Nathan said. “Hopefully the ball players that are playing ball will get some history on the type of player he was. Better yet, the type of person he was.”
Howard Nathan Jr. celebrated many accomplishments and awards throughout his career, including leading Manual to be the state runner up in 1991, McDonald’s All-American in 1991, Mr. Basketball in 1991, and he played in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks in 1995, and more. Besides his basketball achievements, he was described as always optimistic.
“He was the best big brother, he was the best role model, besides my dad,” Charles Nathan said. “He never beat himself up, never down on himself, he was just so positive, even at a young age.”
His brother said that Howard Nathan Jr.s’s calling in life was to help others be better.
Derrick Booth, Director of Social Emotional Services at Peoria Public Schools and Howard Nathan Jr.’s childhood best friend, said his legacy will live on.
“Howard was more than just basketball for this community. He [brought] this community together in so many ways. He promoted peace in so many different ways,” Booth said. “This is a way that Howard Nathan, who was the most gifted basketball player to come out of Peoria, was just as a powerful impact off the court than he was off the court.”
Booth said that Nathan was not just known in Illinois, but all over the country.
“You have former NBA players that when Howard left us in July, where brokenhearted because they remember the competitor he was. But more importantly, the remember the good friend that he was,” Booth said.
Howard Nathan Jr. was paralyzed in 2006, after a drunk driver allegedly struck his vehicle in Peoria. He died July 28, 2019 at a Peoria hospital at 47-years-old.
His jersey will be retired Thursday night during the Manual v.s Peoria Central game.
