Jackson Hicke leads undefeated Radnor into the playoffs before the do-it-all guard heads to Princeton - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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When Jackson Hicke committed to Princeton in July, it was a full-circle moment for Hicke and his family.

Hicke spent the first seven years of his life in England, where basketball wasn’t a popular sport. His parents recall that he didn’t really develop an interest in sports until the family moved back to the United States. Even after he started to enjoy sports, it wasn’t until middle school that Hicke began to favor basketball.

Now, Hicke is preparing to help Radnor through the playoffs with the hopes of building on its undefeated regular season and Central League championship. The Raptors face Unionville on Saturday in the District 1 5A championship game at Temple’s Liacouras Center.

It was after Hicke’s sophomore year at Radnor that a future as a Division I basketball player seemed clear. Hicke had just finished a pandemic-shortened season, getting his first varsity experience after spending his freshman year on the junior varsity squad.

That sophomore season was an adjustment period for Hicke. He showed flashes of his scoring capabilities, but he was learning how to respond to different defensive game plans. Those pieces started to come together in Hicke’s sophomore AAU season.

“During COVID, he got a lot bigger; he got a lot stronger,” Hicke’s father, Ryan, said. “Then, I think that sophomore AAU season, it started to become obvious that Jackson could really hang with other kids and other teams that were full of players that were future Division I and Division III solid players.”

It wasn’t just the strength that Hicke added that helped his game jump to the next level. Radnor coach Jamie Chadwin also credits Hicke’s coachability.

“He really learned from each kind of experience that he had, and he’d ask questions,” Chadwin said. “He’d come back, and you could see him working on trying to not repeat a less-than-desirable outcome.

“He wanted to grow. He wanted to get better with matching his skill set. He kind of grew his savvy and his depth of knowledge of the game.”

Hicke’s junior breakout — in which he averaged 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game — coincided with one of Radnor’s best seasons in its history. The Raptors amassed a 23-5 record, losing in the Central League and District 1 5A championship games.

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A key factor in the team’s success was the chemistry between several of its key contributors, including Hicke, Danny Rosenblum, Charlie Thornton, and Cooper Mueller.

“We know where we want the ball, [and] we know how each other plays,” Hicke said. “It’s just a culmination of playing so long together. We really developed just a feel for how each other’s games are, and it feels natural to me making the reads.”

Radnor’s team chemistry allows Hicke to adjust his game to whatever will help the team win. In some cases, the senior is looked to as a scorer. In others, he works as a facilitator, working the ball around to his teammates.

It’s a skill that helped Hicke lead Radnor to a Central League title this year.

“[In our game against Bayard Rustin], we were down six at half, [and] he had a 17-point second-half, and he finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds,” Chadwin said. “He’s a ‘what do I need to do to make us win’ [player].”

Hicke’s development into a complete player helped him to draw interest as a recruit. He began hearing from several Ivy League and Patriot League schools during his junior year. After the Philly High School Live event in June, the 6-foot-5 guard began to receive offers from the likes of Army, Cornell, Colgate, and Princeton.

Hicke was balancing several factors in his college decision process, including academic prestige, basketball success, and coaching staff. When Princeton became an option, Hicke also leaned on his own personal network. His teammate Mueller is the son of Christopher “Kit” Mueller, who won three Ivy League championships while playing with the Tigers. Kit Mueller served as a mentor for Hicke throughout the recruiting process.

“He understood that that was going to be a really good situation and what I was looking for,” Hicke said. “There were definitely a couple of different factors that went into my decision, but I think Princeton certainly was exactly what I was looking for.

“I’m super excited for the basketball team. I can’t wait to start playing with them. It’s a super close-knit team from what I’ve picked up, and they work hard really hard and buy into their principles. I’m really excited to start playing there.”

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