Kentucky signee Nolan Hickman Jr. with his family
As Nolan Hickman Sr. watched Kentucky play last season, he could not help thinking at times that the Wildcats might have been able to use his son, point guard Nolan Hickman Jr. Instead, Hickman Jr. stayed in the 2021 recruiting class and will arrive on campus in June and currently is the only true point guard on the UK roster even though that likely will change.
Freshman point guard Devin Askew put his name into the transfer portal and senior Davion Mintz has not decided if he will come back to UK for an extra year or not.
Mintz started the final three games at point guard for UK but is more of a combo guard. So is Davidson grad transfer Kellan Grady. So that leaves Hickman at the point now while UK coach John Calipari works the transfer wire hunting for more depth/experience at point guard.
“We did feel they could have used him last year but we understand as parents you only get one chance to be a kid,” Nolan Hickman Sr. said. “They already grow up fast enough and we didn’t want to speed that along.
“Kentucky, God willing, he will be ready when we get there. We just let the natural progression of life take place. It was rough watching (UK) games at times. We are true fans, too. We could see they would get stagnant (on offense) and go on scoring droughts. Nolan would say he could have helped if he was there.”
Instead, Nolan Hickman Jr. left his family in Washington to play his final high school season in Utah. His father said it was a “hard transition” for the family having him not home but was good preparation for him for college.
“We had been teaching him how to cook a few extra meals in case he moved out for college but that timetable moved up drastically when he went to Utah,” Hickman Sr. said. “He really was not prepared for it. He was kind of down at times. Basically, it was like being in college a whole year early with the way he was training, studying, playing. He was homesick and we missed him.”
Hickman’s younger sister and brother missed him terribly and COVID made it difficult for the player to come home. He had to be tested daily when the team was in tournaments or on a trip.
“We would try to surprise him and show up for things he did not know we were coming for but they were also in a lot of bubbles to stay protected,” Hickman Sr. said. “It was just a tough season on him but in the long run I think it is really going to help him when he gets to Kentucky.”
