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Nick Mantis, a man among boys in basketball at East Chicago Washington, dies

Dick Berry was a gregarious, slightly pudgy forward for Northwestern who mostly was interested in just game days.

“He was a lot of fun,” teammate Joe Ruklick said of Berry. “He liked to drink beer and he was overweight. He didn’t like to practice hard, though.”

Nick Mantis couldn’t take the lazy approach to practice. Wherever Mantis played, it was his team.

One day, he had enough of Berry’s lollygagging. Mantis punched him in the jaw.

“He knocked (Berry) flat on his back,” Ruklick said. “It was clear that if you came to practice you’d better be prepared to work. Nick loved to practice. He was a rock. He was a born leader. He never did anything stupid.”

Mantis, a 1955 East Chicago Washington graduate, died Sunday. He was 81.

The Schererville resident was diagnosed with lung cancer last year, according to his son, Angelo.

Mantis starred for Washington, averaging 27 points his senior year, Angelo said.

Mantis was a three-year starter for Northwestern. He averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds as a senior. He played for the Minneapolis Lakers, St. Louis Hawks and the Chicago Zephrys in the NBA.

Mantis also spent several years playing for the Grand Rapid Tackers, a semipro team in Michigan.

Mantis was a Parade All-American at East Chicago Washington despite not making the Indiana All-Star team. He had more than 150 college offers, according to Angelo

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Mantis was a hard-nosed off guard who would have been called a point guard in a modern offense.

“We ran everything, the whole offense, through him,” said Ruklick, a center for the Wildcats.

Once, Northwestern was playing Ohio State and Frank Howard, who later was an All-Star baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Senators, belted Ruklick.

“I felt like I got hit in the back of the head with a bat,” he said.

Ruklick turned around and Mantis had grabbed Howard, a towering 6-8, 250-pound menace, by the jersey.

“If you mess with Joe, you are messing with me,” Mantis told him.

Bobby Cantrell, who graduated from Washington in 1960 and played for Michigan, said he idolized Mantis. The first time he saw Mantis play, Cantrell decided he was going to be like him.

“I took No. 30 because that was Nick’s number,” he said. “He was a great basketball player.”

Angelo, who starred at Lake Central and played for Northeastern Illinois, said his dad was a strong, steady presence who only dished out basketball advice if asked.

“He just had that vibe about him,” Angelo said. “He was very humble about his own basketball. I didn’t even know he was a good basketball player until I was in grade school.”

Nick Mantis had spent the past few years watching his grandsons, Nick and Christopher, play. Nick just graduated from Lowell and Chris will be a freshman at Lowell.

“He really enjoyed watching both of the kids play,” Angelo said. “He always wanted to know how they did if he couldn’t make it.

The wake for Mantis will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Ridge Funeral Home in Schererville. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Schererville.

mhutton@post-trib.com

Twitter @MikeHuttonPT