Brooklyn Hicks chooses UNLV basketball, continues Timberline's D1-playing legacy
LACEY, Wash. - Brooklyn Hicks has been talked about around this college town in Thurston County as a basketball prodigy for years - well before he showed up in the Timberline High School gymnasium.
And to continue the school's recent playing legacy at an NCAA Division I school after Donaven Dorsey and Erik Stevenson? It's obviously not as commonplace as say, the Metro League in Seattle.
"It’s a lot of pressure, but I feel like I’ve been built for pressure my whole life," Hicks said. "At this point, I listen to it, I take in the heat, I take in the good comments and I keep rolling."
A three-star recruit, Hicks made an official declaration Wednesday, giving UNLV a verbal pledge over WSU, Rice and Nevada.
The 6-foot-3 combo guard announced his decision by revealing the T-shirt of his college choice in front of a handful of classmates and teachers in the school gymnasium.
"He loves the coaching style, and what better place to show what he can do than on the stage of that conference?" Timberline boys coach Allen Thomas said. "I am proud of him. He’s worked really hard to get to this point, and his best years are ahead of him."
The two-time 3A SSC player of the year really had a banner junior season - first averaging 24.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in leading the Blazers to the Class 3A championships last March.
And his recruiting stock really got a boost with a good summer showing playing for the top Rotary EYBL squad alongside UConn commit Jaylin Stewart, of Garfield High School.
In the past couple of months, Hicks narrowed it down to the four schools. And he said he knew "sitting in the living room Sunday night" what school he wanted to choose, and informed his parents.
Hicks said he valued, above all things, the opportunity to see early action.
"This process has been a long two years," he said. "Every coach that has been part of it has been great. For me, it came down ... to the small details of why I wanted a certain school more than the others."
