Joe Dykstra

Joseph Dykstra is an American former professional basketball player best known for his college career at Western Illinois University from 1978 to 1983, where he set numerous records and was named the Summit League's first ever men's basketball player of the year. Through the 2022–23 season he is still Western Illinois' all-time leading scorer with 2,248 points.

Playing career High school Dykstra lived in The Hague, Netherlands for some of his childhood, including his freshman year in high school. His father felt the basketball competition was weak and so he moved the family back to Des Moines, Iowa, where as a sophomore at Herbert Hoover High School Dykstra became a starter for the varsity basketball team. As a senior in 1977–78 he was the leading vote-getter in the Des Moines Tribune s all-area team. He cited he always wanted to play in the Big Ten Conference, so when the Western Illinois Leathernecks offered him a scholarship (who were in NCAA Division II at the time), Dykstra played "with a chip on [his] shoulder." The following season he appeared in 28 games and averaged 14 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Mid-Continent Conference (Summit League) Second Team.

The following season, Dykstra's sophomore season, he upped his averages to 21.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game and led Western Illinois to finish as runners-up in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament. He was named the tournament's most outstanding player and also repeated as an All-MCC Second Team selection.

In 1980–81, Dykstra's junior season, Western Illinois had moved up to NCAA Division I and classified as an independent (i.e. no conference affiliation). He averaged 21.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. The previous record was set in 1967 by Rutgers' Bob Lloyd (Dykstra's record has since been broken).

As a senior in 1982–83, Western Illinois had re-joined the Mid-Continent Conference, which was now a Division I athletics conference.

Dykstra was inducted into Western Illinois' athletics hall of fame in 1994.

Professional Dykstra was selected in the 1983 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. The Suns took him as the 20th pick in the 9th round (204th overall). He stayed at Westwood Financial for nearly 30 years and became their CEO in 2016. After two-plus years he left the company to become the President of Sterling Logistics Properties in West Palm Beach, Florida. As of September 2022 he is still at Sterling Organization.