28 Feb 2023 Devil Dogs retire number of basketball legend

By Morgan Zimmerman

Family, food and basketball — that’s what keeps former Morrilton Devil Dog basketball star and retired National Basketball Association player Jimmy Oliver coming back to the 501. Oliver, who now lives in a small town outside of Akron, Ohio, where he started his family while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early 1990s, returns to Arkansas often to visit friends and family. His latest visit was made extra special as his alma mater honored him Feb. 17 by retiring the No. 40 jersey with the Oliver name, which is now on display in Devil Dog Arena.

“It’s an honor. I believe it’s something that not a lot of people get to experience and I’m humbled by the gesture and the recognition,” Oliver said.

Born and raised in Menifee (Conway County), Oliver is one of seven siblings, most of whom still live in the Morrilton area, along with his mother, Johnnie Oliver. He visits at least a couple of times a year, and when he’s in town, the family comes together for food and fellowship. You won’t find his favorite spot to eat in the 501 on Google. “When I come home, I spend most of my time with my family. My sister is one of the best cooks I know and she learned from the best, my mother,” Oliver said.

Oliver grew up playing basketball with his cousins on a pine pole at the park in Menifee and didn’t play organized sports until ninth grade. He was a standout player in the late 1980s at Morrilton High School. In 1987, as a senior he was honored as the Gatorade Player of the Year for Arkansas. He went on to play college basketball at Purdue University, was selected in the second round of the NBA draft and played professionally in the United States and overseas until retiring in 2007.

“I didn’t have any intentions of going to college. I was going to go straight to work,” Oliver said.  However, he was pursued by a community college and signed a letter of intent to play, but before the year started, Coach Webber from Purdue University reached out and offered him a full scholarship. “I always played hard because I loved it and that created opportunities for me. If you play like you’re being watched even when you’re not, someone will take notice,” Oliver said.

Ever curious about human behavior, Oliver decided to study sociology at Purdue and planned to return to Arkansas after college and go to work. Then, opportunity knocked again. “When I was in college, I never planned to play professionally. I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to,” he said. “I had a lot of great experiences playing in the NBA, but the one that really stands out was my rookie year with Cleveland. We made our way to the conference finals and we played against the Chicago Bulls, and I had a front row seat to see Michael Jordan play.”

Oliver also represented the country on the U.S. National Team in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, finishing with a bronze medal. He describes the experience on the team as a “true blessing.”

“How many people get to actually represent their country outside of the military? I considered it an honor,” he said.

For Oliver, opportunity and success were the result of hard work, faith and the support of his family. “My family has supported me 100% through everything. I always knew I would have their support,” he said.

His father and mother raised him with a strong faith in God. He attended Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church in Menifee throughout his childhood. “Religion has been with me my whole life. God has guided me and I have taught my daughters to be God-fearing, respectful individuals,” Oliver said.

He has used that foundation of faith, and also his degree in sociology, since retiring from the NBA by pursuing a career as a change-maker in his Ohio community. 

In 2008, he began working for the Summit County Juvenile Detention Center and in 2018 transitioned into a position as a family liaison case manager for the juvenile court. He moved to the court side to work with The Parent Project, a national program created to develop parent-training programs for parents raising difficult or out-of-control children.

“At the detention center, we would see a lot of repeat offenders. I wanted to try to change the destructive adolescent behavior we saw every day by changing the environment they were going back into,” Oliver said. The program achieves this by working with the parents. “If people actually do the work and decide they want to make a change, they can do it,” he said.

The former professional player looks forward to returning to Conway County to visit family and friends and seeing his retired number in Devil Dog Arena.