Sam Hicks leaving Boise State

According to Jeff Goodman, 6-foot-9 Sam Hicks, who redshirted last season and didn't play much in 2010-2011 (seven games for 14 minutes) is departing Boise State. He was a Greg Graham recruit. Hicks is athletically a freshman who will be entering his sophomore season but obviously won't have a season to burn as he sits out a year if he remains in D-1.

Tuesday and the world of WAC basketball

Utah State fans (see Kyisean Reed) should now be visiting Melvin Grussing's Antelope Valley College site on a daily basis. He maintains his fan site better than any community college does and the material he posts is from hsi eyewitness accounts. If there is any news, Melvin will have it first.

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Chris Murray located a feature on the long bond between Armon Johnson and Luke Babbitt.

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Here's another look at the path of Gary Wilkinson -- it's 'cute' to read some of the words/phrases used by foreign journalists and surely they feel the same way when partaking of a U.S.-based news story.

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Redshirt freshman -- all 6-foot-9, 248 pounds of him -- Sam Hicks is the latest Boise State Bronco featured by Nick Jezierny.

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Ilya Pinchuk at the Vandal Nation site offers a series of photos from the recent Idaho intra-squad scrimmage.

Boise State signee Sam Hicks earns a double-double

6-8 Sam Hicks, from the Redding, CA area, signed a national letter of intent with Coach Greg Graham and Boise State back in Movember. Hicks just posted a double-double but it wasn't enough to put his team on top.

Lions upend Patriots in Christian rivalry
Jeffrey Jen
Redding Searchlight
February 14, 2009

Rivalries are supposed to be fierce.

But when Redding Christian High School and Liberty Christian meet on the court in boys basketball, there's a feeling that borders upon deep dislike that pervades the gymnasium.

In the latest chapter of the small-school rivalry, Daniel Bartow scored 19 points as the Lions overcame a six-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to pull out a 58-50 victory over the Patriots on Friday.

Andrew Baxter added 15 points, including three big free throws, and Byron Brown added 10 rebounds to go along with seven points.

That was enough to offset Liberty's 6-foot-8 senior center Sam Hicks, who had 15 points and 18 rebounds, and a cadre of Patriot perimeter shooters...

Go here for the remainder.

Another Sam Hicks newspaper article

We were sent a newspaper article about a recent game involving Boise State signee Sam Hicks so we are passing it along. The contest wasn't anywhere close (65-15) but we loved the photo that accompanied the article -- do click on it to enlarge it. We can't tell if the photo is actually what took place as described in the second paragraph of the article or is from another time during the game.

Patriots open tourney with 50-point win over Wilton Christian
Aaron Williams
Redding Searchlight
December 30, 2008

The opening sequence was textbook.

Sam Hicks batted the opening tip to a teammate on the left wing. The 6-foot-8 Liberty Christian center ran down the court, through the lane and jumped up to the rim in time for the throw-down oop on the back end of the opening-bucket alley oop...

Go here for the remainder.

An article making mention of BSU recruit Sam Hicks

Here's an article about a recent game in which Boise State recruit Sam Hicks was a participant.

Here's the promised Sam Hicks article

Here's the Sam-Hicks-To-Boise article we promised a few days ago from the NorCalPreps site. We're posting it in its entirety because sometime has passed since it appeared and because we wrote it:

(Sam Hicks photo courtesy of Shannon Hicks)

Hicks to the WAC

Liberty High’s Sam Hicks resides in the Redding area way up in northern California. Now he’s set to head even further north and a little east as he has given a verbal commitment to the college of his choice.

The 6-foot-9 Hicks had the options to venture to the West Coast Conference and the Big West Conference but a visit over the weekend made his mind up and he’s going to be a student-athlete in the Western Athletic Conference.

With a mostly upperclass frontcourt, Hicks will have an opportunity for early playing time

"I’ve decided to attend Boise State," Hicks said. "I really liked the coaches and players and the area is nice too."

Hicks initially thought he would be making a November decision "if it feels right" but all obviously came together for him earlier than expected.

What’s interesting is that it began to snow in the Boise area as Hicks was concluding his visit. Moisture and cold can be a deal breaker for some but it was a clincher for Hicks who sees snow as opportunity.

Hicks wanted to thank his Liberty High coach Todd Franklin. As he explained earlier, "Coach Franklin knows the Pumps [the Los Angeles-based Pump Brothers} and that helped me land a spot on one of their teams" which aided in his exposure to college coaches.

Eligibility should be of no concern with Hicks holding a 3.5 grade point average.

The BSU coaching staff indicated to Hicks that he will be positioned at the four spot.

Boise State currently sports four ’bigs’ on the roster. An opportunity for early playing time will be present as Bronco forward Mark Sanchez is departing after the upcoming season, 6-foot-9-ers Kurt Cunningham and Ike Okoye will be seniors during Hicks’ freshman year while 6-foot-10 Zack Moritz will be entering his junior year.

Nevada and San Jose State are also members of the Western Athletic Conference and within driving distance of Redding, giving Hicks’ family the opportunity to see him play without having to fly somewhere.

Sam Hicks to visit Idaho

6-8 Sam Hicks is a diamond in the rough way up in northern California, a territory not known for producing D-1 prospects. He has an official visit to Idaho coming up and both Idaho and Boise State have offered. Hicks has also taken an unofficial visit to Nevada.

It requires a Rivals subscription but here's an article on Hicks.

Here's a link to an ESPN evaluation of Hicks.