Last Updated on March 29, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

  • Full Name: Willard Leon Sojourner.
  • Nickname: Willie; in Italy he was also known as “Zio Willie.”
  • Nationality: American.
  • Date of Birth: September 10, 1948.
  • Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • Height: 6-foot-9.
  • Weight: 225 pounds.
  • Wingspan: Not reliably documented.
  • Shoe Size: Not reliably documented.
  • Jersey Number: No. 35 at Weber State; pro sources list Nos. 35 and 40 across his ABA/NBA career, but I did not find a clean team-by-team official breakdown for every stop, so I would not overstate which number matched each club beyond that.
  • Position: Center / power forward.
  • High School: Germantown High School, Philadelphia. (Wikipedia)
  • College: Weber State. (Wikipedia)
  • NBA Draft: Chicago Bulls, 1971, 20th overall in the second round. He was also the No. 8 pick in the 1971 ABA Draft by the Virginia Squires. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Player Archetype: Long, mobile interior rebounder and defensive-minded center. This is an inference from his listed position, rebounding profile, high-jump background, and contemporary descriptions of his game. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Primary Offensive Role: Interior finisher and secondary low-post scorer who could score with a hook shot and work off paint touches rather than carry an offense from the perimeter. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Defensive Role: Paint protector and glass-cleaning back-line big. This is an inference from his size, rebounding output, and descriptions of his length and tenacity on the boards. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Play Style: Physical but mobile inside player; strong rebounder, unselfish passer for a big, active around the rim, and comfortable doing the dirty work. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Handedness / Shooting Hand: Right-handed shooter.
  • Athletic Profile: Big-bodied but springy frontcourt athlete with long arms and real vertical pop; he was also a standout high jumper and an NCAA track All-American. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Recruiting Status: Lightly recruited / late-blooming prospect from a basketball-development standpoint. (Wikipedia)
  • Draft Status Detail: Drafted by both the NBA and ABA in 1971, then chose the ABA’s Virginia Squires. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Injury Status Category: No major public injury history.
  • Career Stage: Retired player; later coach; deceased in 2005. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Comparison Style: More of a long-armed, mobile 1970s interior anchor than a polished modern stretch big; his style reads like a rebounding-first rim big with touch inside. (Big Sky Conference)
  • Teams Played For:
    • Weber State (1968–1971)
    • Virginia Squires (1971–1973)
    • New York Nets (1973–1975)
    • Lancaster Red Roses (1975–1976)
    • AMG Sebastiani Basket Rieti (1976–1982)
    • Grifone Perugia (1982–1983)
  • Championship Rings: 1 major U.S. pro title noted in the sources: 1974 ABA champion with the New York Nets.
  • Parents: A memorial source notes that he was predeceased by his parents, but does not clearly surface their names in the snippet I could verify. (Find A Grave)
  • Children: Christopher, Matthew, and Joshua. (Weber State University Athletics)
  • Siblings: A memorial source lists siblings Lawrence, Ann, Faith, Dennis, Isaac, Michael, Arnetta, and David, and notes that brothers George and Paul predeceased him. I would treat this as obituary-level family information rather than league-record data. (Find A Grave)
  • Retirment Age: His last listed playing season was 1982–83, so he was about 34 turning 35 when his pro career ended.
  • Retirement Year: 1983.

Willie Sojourner’s player archetype was that of a long, mobile interior big who made his mark with rebounding, paint defense, and efficient inside play rather than perimeter creation. Defensively, he projects as a back-line anchor type, using his length, spring, and physical presence to control the glass and protect the lane, while offensively he fit best as a low-post finisher, hook-shot scorer, and complementary interior option. At 6-foot-9 with long arms and genuine leaping ability, he brought the kind of rangy athletic profile that also showed up in track and field, and his overall play style blended toughness, unselfishness, and interior activity in a way that fit winning frontcourts of that era. (Big Sky Conference)

Sources:

Weber State Athletics — The Fabulous Willie Sojourner
Big Sky Conference — No. 36 Weber State’s Willie Sojourner
Myers Mortuary — Willard Leon Sojourner Obituary (1948 – 2005)
Basketball-Reference — Willie Sojourner Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft