Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Ever since elementary school, when he became friends with future Radnor teammate Cooper Mueller, Jackson Hicke had heard plenty about Princeton basketball. Mueller’s father, Christopher ‘Kit’ Mueller, was a standout for the Tigers in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, and had plenty to say about playing for legendary head coach Pete Carril and leading Princeton to three straight Ivy League championships (1989-91).
So it’s perhaps not a surprise that even before Hicke had a chance to tell the Muellers about his commitment to the esteemed New Jersey institution on Tuesday morning, he got a celebratory text from Cooper, Kit undoubtedly equally as thrilled.
Jackson Hicke (above) ended his recruitment on Tuesday by committing to Princeton. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
“He knew before I even told him today that I committed to Princeton,” Hicke laughed. “He texted me today ‘Let’s go, I’m super-excited for you.’ I didn’t even need to tell him.”
Hicke announced his commitment on social media Tuesday night, accepting an offer he received last Wednesday from the Princeton staff on a visit to the school but had kept quiet, telling only a few friends and family. He spent the holiday weekend measuring up the Tigers’ opportunity alongside those from Cornell, Colgate and Army, as well as any that might come in during the month of July, and knew he’d found his spot.
“I kinda had a gut feeling that I wanted to end up there,” he told CoBL on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a great school, great program, it’s only an hour from home, it’s far enough where I’m alone but my family can come to my games and stuff, so it’s kind of perfect. I really like the coaching staff too.
“I had a good feeling afterwards but I wanted to sit on it, just to make sure that it wasn’t because I was just there,” he said. “I didn’t think anybody else could trump Princeton, in the sense that I don’t know what other school would get involved that I would rather go to other than Princeton.”
Hicke is Princeton’s third commitment for the 2023 class, alongside Archbishop Mitty (Cali.) wing Derek Sangster and Harvard-Westlake (Cali.) center Jacob Huggins. They’ll arrive at the school’s campus next fall — Ivy League schools don’t have summer workouts for freshmen — and join a program that’s gone 185-105 in 10 seasons under Mitch Henderson, making one NCAA Tournament (2017) but coming off a 23-7 season and the Ivy League regular-season title.
There’s certainly no lack of familiarity between Hicke and the Ivy League institution, in no small part due to the Mueller family: In addition to Kit Mueller’s Princeton legacy, his daughter Ellie Mueller is a sophomore on the Tigers’ women’s lacrosse team. Cooper, who’s also a Division I lacrosse recruit, has yet to make his college decision. Jackson and Cooper had been to multiple Princeton basketball camps as middle schoolers, spending a week on campus and learning from Henderson and his staff.
Anything else Hicke wanted to know about Princeton, all he’s had to do is ask Kit.
“He’s been a fantastic resource for that,” Hicke said. “[Ellie’s] been helpful too. They have a lot of connections there, helped me better understand the school and how the fit would be.
“[Kit] had a really really successful career at Princeton, so just to be able to hear from him how it went, it made a big difference and swayed me towards that direction a lot,” Hicke added. “He’s been really helpful throughout this whole process.”
Hicke (above) helped Radnor to a 23-5 record during his junior season, Radnor's best in 40+ years. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
Hicke spent the first seven years of his life in England thanks to his father’s job — his parents, Ryan and Terri Hicke, are both Saint Joseph’s grads, but Ryan’s career had them overseas. He told CoBL last summer that he didn’t even play the sport before second grade due to its popularity (or lack thereof) in the United Kingdom, but he didn’t take too long to catch up to most kids his age.
It was the summer going into his junior year of high school, though that Hicke first started to think it wasn’t so crazy that he could be a Division I basketball player.
The Raptors’ wing had always loved the sport but was a scrawny six-foot-tall guard playing JV ball as a freshman at the Main Line public school, which isn’t exactly known for pumping out high-level college talent on the hardwood. At the time, he was just hoping he could play college basketball at some level, even if that meant walking onto a Division III program.
Then came a five-inch growth spurt heading into sophomore year, which changed his outlook significantly. Pair that with some work in the weight room during the pandemic, and Hicke looked like a whole new player by the 2021 offseason.
“When we reconvened with some summer stuff is when we saw him take a big step forward and then after the summer, in the fall, he just really continued to take big strides in not only his skillset but also his physical development,” Radnor head coach Jamie Chadwin said. “I think [assistant coach] Josh Leopold and I looked at Ryan and Terri, his parents, and said he’s headed on this track, it’s pretty clear.”
Hicke gave a lot of credit to his trainer, former Eastern University guard Austin ‘Ace’ Carroll, for his individual development over the last few years. The pair had worked together since Hicke was in eighth grade, but Carroll similarly saw the leap occur about a year ago, when Hicke was starting to really put it all together.
“I talked to him last summer about the physicality of the game and how he had potential to be a Division I player, and a lot of that was just getting stronger and quicker and the physicality,” Carroll said, “and with that comes the confidence and understanding that he is good enough and he needs to play like it every time he’s out there.”
(Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
Hicke really opened eyes during his junior season, when he helped lead Radnor to one of the best years in program history, a 23-5 season that saw the Raptors make it to the Central League and District 1 5A championship games, averaging 16.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 2.5 apg in his breakout season.
He’s kept up that production this spring whether playing with Radnor or with PrimeTime Elite on the grassroots circuit, playing under Devon Prep coach Jason Fisher and alongside Radnor classmates Charlie Thornton and Danny Rosenblum plus Devon’s Lucas Orchard and Jacen Holloway, among others. Hicke’s effort is consistent regardless of the arena or atmosphere, from the start of the game to the end, and that consistency and work ethic wore down coaches as well.
“He is a refreshing example of all that is good in our youth,” Chadwin said. “Not to get too philosophical, but that’s such an important component of this: he’s got maturity and grace and things that you wouldn’t always say about 16 or 17-year-old.”
(Get used to hearing the name Hicke, by the way: Jackson’s siblings Emma (going into 10th grade), Conor (8th), Lucy (3rd), and Calvin (1st) all play ball.)
Hicke’s offers all came after playing with Radnor at the Philly Live events the last two weekends in June, where he consistently put up big scoring numbers while also filling the stat sheet with rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. Schools from the Ivy and Patriot Leagues and quite a few others would congregate whenever the Raptors played, Hicke proving himself over and over that he could play at their level.
With Princeton assistant Brett MacConnell keeping a close eye on Hicke throughout the spring, the last few weeks sold the Tigers’ staff. Though he’d been to the Garden State on a couple occasions, Hicke’s third visit to Princeton was the one on which he received the offer (to join the roster; Ivy League schools don’t give out athletic scholarships), and that was that.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I’ve been really dreaming about this since I was a kid, worked hard to get here. I’m very thankful to everybody who helped me get to this position, I certainly didn’t do it by myself. It feels unbelievable — I’m beyond excited, beyond words that I’m committed to Princeton.”
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