The Hickman Effect
Back when Fran McCaffery was the coach at UNCG, he was prone to using ... umm, "colorful" language. Often he used it when he was angry - just ask the refs in the SoCon - but sometimes he even used it in compliments.
For example, if a player is really good, Fran will call him a ... umm ... term for a female dog (rhymes with itch). As in, that guy is a real (insert term here) to guard. It was a term Fran often used to describe ETSU's Zakee Wadood and Jerald Fields.
That was the word Fran used to describe Ricky Hickman back when Hickman was senior at East Forsyth. I remember when Hickman signed with the Spartans. I hadn't heard Fran that nearly as excited about any other recruit during the time period between the signing of Jay Joseph and the signing of Kyle Hines (unfortunately this time period also coincided with my term as the UNCG beat writer for the paper).
For the previous two years, it's been easy to see what made McCaffery so excited. With Hines and Hickman both clicking, the Spartans were a danger to any team in the conference. But what UNCG needed was a solid supporting cast around its two stars.
This year, Mike Dement's solid freshman class - Koivisto and Stywall in particular - has filled in the gaps in the Spartans' rotation that plagued them last season. The problem has been that Hickman hasn't played up to his usual (insert Fran's term here) status. Thirty-three percent shooting just doesn't cut it for a go-to guy.
On Saturday though, we got a glimpse of what is possible if Hickman gets back on his game. Hines, clearly the best player in the SoCon, is a given by now. You know what you're going to get every game (although imagine if he could make 70 percent of his free throws? Wow). Hickman is the x-factor. When he's on, UNCG looks like a much better team.
Like it did in winning a huge road game at Furman, 91-86 in double overtime. This isn't your older brother's Furman squad. These guys knocked off Vanderbilt earlier this season and will be a threat to Davidson in the South Division. Winning this one on the road is a huge statement for the Spartans.
That statement? That if Hickman (10 of 16 from the field, 3 of 6 from 3-point range) gets back to (Fran's term here) status, the G could be playing well into March.
Due to recent automated spamming attacks on our blogs, we are temporarily requiring commenters to authenticate themselves via TypeKey® before posting comments to any News & Record blog in order to prevent denials of service. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.