concordtom;842708784 said:
But I thought you were "slow-playing" Hickman.
So, which is it? Are you wanting him here or not?
Shocky1;842681066 said:
happy b-day, alec, love your enthusiasm for the #1 ranked public (#3 overall) university in the world
hope you maximize your time at prep school to build muscle thru the s&c program, continue grinding to improve your basketball skills & most importantly work harder in the class room to raise your gpa to ensure a successful admission & transition to berkeley
nobody became mentally limitless overnight, alec, your journey is all in front of you...you got the 100% support of coach martin & the cal staff
let's do this
update: brandon chauca recently had the year end meeting that coach martin has with every player & coach asked him how he would feel if he never got off the bench next season...brandon told him that he's gonna work so hard & consistently knock down 3 pointers that coach won't have a choice but to play him
coach martin will also hopefully have a similar meeting in the near future with alec hickman focusing on 3 areas:
***academics: how did alec do this last semester of his senior year, did he achieve at least a 3.5+ gpa?...his overall borderline 3.0 gpa makes him a potential non acceptance risk with cal admissions...the staff frustrated oscar frayer, davon dillard, tyson jolly & jordan cornish and themselves (acting like a victim because of your own poor decisions is a clown's errand) by recruiting guys who weren't gonna be accepted at cal because of substandard academics
***s&c development: how much good weight/strength has hickman put on since his commitment, is he building the body to compete as a pac 12 level athlete?
***basketball skills: alec was named to the orange county's 4th team as a senior, is he developing the shooting, ball handling & defensive skills to be a contributor for the cal basketball program?
asking hickman to attend prep school for a year if he truly isn't a cal fit isn't fair to the young man, there is still time for him to sign with a less academically challenging low mid major program that he can earn playing time
if alec is making the necessary positive steps to be a contributor to the cal basketball program & is willing to accept his role in the future, then we'll look forward to seeing hickman in berkeley in 2017
alec hickman is showing signs of improvement this summer both in becoming more of a vocal leader & knocking down 3 pointers (yesterday's 5 3 pointers reflects his continued improvement)...he is by all accounts an unselfish team player without a sense of entitlement (like j mat) that is very coachable
my concerns with hickman pertain to his academics (why risk recruiting a prospective student athlete that is not a potential future superstar with a gpa that is marginal for cal admissions, why not recruit 4.0 gpa guys like ernie sears to fill out the roster?), his body type (he's 6'4" & still appears to be under 170 lbs, he is physically pushed around at the aau level) & his basketball skills (he's not quick enough to compete in the pac 12, his handle is average & his release point on 3 pointers is too low, it will be blocked at the high d1 level)
alec has not firmed up a 2017 prep school yet & it will be interesting to see if there are any new developments in his recruitment particularly with the 2017 class already including jemarl baker & juhwan harris-dyson
i wish alec hickman nothing but the best
