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Wednesday, November 15, 2000

Hicks is Islanders' ace in the hole
Forward's all-around game could lead to a future in the pro ranks
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times
In his more than 30 years of coaching, Ronnie Arrow has seen his share of great players. He's coached All-Americans. He's coached future NBA players. He's coached national championship players.
   And none of them, Arrow says, were as good as Michael Hicks.
   "He's the best. Period. Ballgame. Over," the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi head coach said of his star player. "The best on the court. The best off the court. And here's a kid who couldn't speak English three years ago, which makes it even more impressive. He's the best, case closed."
   Bold words for a man who has seen it all. Then again, few have ever seen a player like Michael Hicks.
   That is likely to change in the coming months, as the Islanders' 6-foot-5, do-everything forward completes his senior season, one that could unveil his talents to the basketball world and lead to future reward.
   As in, pay for play.
   "I want to play professional ball someplace next year," Hicks said. "I've got a chance to go to the NBA. That's my dream. If not, there are a lot of places you can go to play professional ball. You can go overseas. But the NBA is the dream of everybody who plays in Division I."
   An NBA contract is hardly in his grasp yet. Most pro teams still know little about Hicks and the A&M-Corpus Christi program, which opens its second season of play Friday night.
   But there are signs that people are beginning to take notice. Last year, pro scouts attended a handful of Islander games, usually to see a player from the opposing team. By the time they left the arena, they usually had found another player - Hicks - worthy of attention.
   "I think it's a slam dunk that he'll at least play overseas," Arrow said. "The NBA, he'll get the looks, he'll get the invites. It just depends on the season. We've got a tough enough schedule for him to be seen."
   A highly recruited prospect out of Bacone Junior College in Muskogee, Okla., he could have signed with high-profile schools like LSU, Oklahoma or Tulsa.
   Instead, he chose A&M-Corpus Christi, where he could join two of his Bacone teammates - Damian Kirkaldy and Aaron Eneas - and where he could forever be remembered as a pioneer of the brand-new basketball program.
   Hicks' presence with the Islanders was felt immediately; he scored 22 points in his first game, 30 points two nights later against Texas Tech. By the time the season ended, he had led the team in scoring 21 times and in rebounding 16 times (out of 26 games).
   His season average of 22.2 points would have ranked 11th in the nation and his 9.2 rebounds would have put him in a tie for 24th in the country if not for A&M-Corpus Christi's status as a provisional NCAA member.
   Ask Hicks about his individual accomplishments and you'll soon find out he pays little-to-no attention to his numbers.
   "I like to win. I don't like to lose," he said matter-of-factly. "It doesn't mean anything if I score 30 or 40 and we lost. I want to win."
   It is that desire to bring out the best in his teammates, to not be content unless the scoreboard shows the Islanders with more points than the opposition, that distinguishes Hicks from merely a good player to a great one.
   "He works harder than anybody," teammate Lee Denmon said. "Even though he knows he's good and everybody knows he's good, he's still out there. He works hard and pushes everybody to work harder. I think he's humble about being good. But he knows he's still not at the level he wants to be."
   Three years ago, Hicks didn't know where he wanted to be. A basketball hero in his native Panama, he moved to the United States and brought his game to Bacone College.
   The transition to American lifestyle wasn't easy for Hicks, who had to pick up English along the way. For a brief time, he contemplated quitting school and returning to Panama.
   "Sometimes I'm in my room and I think about that," said Hicks, who has slowly mastered the English language. "Now I'm a senior. I'm almost finished. I just can't wait for the season to come. I know this is going to be my last chance to play college basketball."
   A&M-Corpus Christi, of course, wishes that wasn't so.
   "The best compliment I can give him is that every coach in America's best player should be Mike Hicks," Arrow said. "He's the best, and I love him. And it's easy to say, 'Well, you love him because he's such a great player.' The reason I love him is because of the other things that make him a good player."

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