Hobart’s Paxson Hicko burst on the scene as a sophomore last season.
The 5-foot-10 junior point guard is being asked to take another step forward so the Brickies, whose last winning season was in 2019-20, can do the same.
“We can’t win without Paxson scoring,” Hobart coach Devon Key said. “We have a few key guys that can put up points, but we need Paxson to be Paxson every night.
“He knows that he needs to put the ball in the basket and he needs to be consistent. As long as he’s consistent, we’ll have a lot of success.”
Hicko averaged 9.1 points last season, ranking second among returning players behind senior guard Ryan Basham, and also contributed 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
Together, Hicko and Basham are expected to form one of the top backcourts in the Northwest Crossroads Conference. Basham, a Dominican University commit, averaged 13.3 points while shooting 35% from 3-point range last season.
Basham has played with Hicko since middle school and credits him with making his life on the court easier.
“It’s great playing alongside him because there’s nothing he really can’t do on the basketball court,” Basham said. “He’s great at handling pressure and driving to the basket, and that opens me up to knock down catch-and-shoot threes.”
Basham also noted the strides Hicko made in the offseason.
“He’s worked on his pull-up a lot,” Basham said. “It’s one of his go-to shots. He’s definitely gotten stronger in the paint too. He’s able to create contact, use the defender’s body and finish through it. And he can jump higher than he could.”
That led to Hicko’s signature summer moment — his first dunk.
“That was a good feeling, seeing that my hard work paid off,” he said. “I’ve been trying to dunk since my freshman year, and only recently was I finally able to make one.”
Hicko is cautiously optimistic that he’ll dunk during a game this season.
“If I get a fast-break opportunity, yeah, I think it could happen,” he said.
But Hicko’s offseason work involved more than dunking. He and Key expect him to average at least 13 points for Hobart, which went 9-15 last season and is scheduled to open against South Central on Wednesday.
Key believes Hicko has done everything necessary to make that happen.
“He’s a gym rat,” Key said. “He’s always at the gym. I tell players all the time that there’s no secret to any of this. The work you put in during the unseen hours when it’s you by yourself, those matter more than you know. So I hear him talk a lot about being prepared, and I think he’ll shoot it well this year because he has prepared himself.
“Once you put the work in when no one is watching, you can expect to see the results.”
Hicko said increasing his numbers is “definitely” in the back of his mind, but that’s secondary to his primary mission, which is helping the Brickies win.
“I’m the same off the court as I am on it,” he said. “I’m hardworking, and in everything I do, I try to do my best and give 100%. That’s in the classroom, with my family, and I try to influence my teammates to do that too. I try to push them to go as hard as they can so I can get the best out of them and so we can get the best out of our team.
“It means everything to me to win games for Hobart. I’m tired, the team’s tired and the program’s tired of losing. I think this year could be our chance to really make a statement that Hobart basketball isn’t a losing team.”
Noah Poser is a freelance reporter.
