The Neesam Classic honors Fredrick J. Neesam, a graduate of WSD and Gallaudet College who founded the Gallaudet basketball team and the Central States Schools for the Deaf (CSSD) basketball tournament. The Neesam Classic strives to promote sportsmanship along with recognition of the athletic skills of the student athletes who participate.
During Fredrick J. Neesam’s time as Athletic Director / Basketball Coach at Wisconsin School for the Deaf:
- Won National Champions School the Deaf Tournament (1934)
- Won U.S. Deaf Basketball Champions (1937)
- Won 4 Central States Schools for the Deaf (CSSD) Championships (1934, 1937, 1938, and 1941)
Quoted from Deaf Heritage Book’s first paragraph about basketball:
“In 1904 Frederick J. Neesam organized a basketball team at Gallaudet College. When he returned to his alma mater, the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in 1906, he introduced the game there. Before long other schools for the Deaf were playing the sport.”
WSD Basketball 1,000 Points List
| Girls | Boys |
| Tanya Perry 1,190 points, 1990-94 Nancy Frazier 1,024 points, 1985-89 Tamara Perry, 1,013 points, 1987-91 | Jerome Payne, 1,640 points, 2013-2017 Navarro Davidson, 1,242 points, 1972-75 Randy Letkiewicz, 1,217 points, 1961-65 Tim Morgan, 1,136 points, 1974-78 Richard Jacobs, 1092 points, 1981-85 James Long, 1,028 points, 1945-50 Mike Maxwell, 1,023 points, 1973-77 Kelly Pulvermacher, 1,016, 1991-93 John Falkavage, 1,010 points, 1976-80 Leslie Suhr, 1,008 points, 1964-68 |