Born in Thornton, Mississippi, Quick grew up in Cincinnati and attended Hughes Center High School.

[1] Quick played college basketball at Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Quick was consistent throughout his college career, averaging 20.0 points per game as a sophomore, 19.3 as a junior, and 23.7 as a senior.

He was traded from the Bullets to the Pistons for Eddie Miles on February 1, 1970, in a transaction that also involved both teams exchanging selections in the subsequent draft with Detroit receiving a second-round pick (32nd overall–Ken Warzynski) and Baltimore a fourth-rounder (54th overall–Bill Stricker).

[7] After basketball, he worked in marketing and advertising, founding Chromagraphics Inc., ultimately growing the Detroit-based company into a million-dollar enterprise.