Bloomington South grad Connor Hickman was playing in Peoria, but decided to hit the road, opting into the transfer portal, after his junior season with the men’s basketball team at Bradley.
He hit I-74 back to Indiana and kept on going, landing at the University of Cincinnati, a member of the Big 12 Conference. It gives Hickman, whose junior season with the Panthers was derailed by COVID and senior year was derailed by injury, a chance to prove himself at the Power 5 Conference level.
Ironically enough, Bradley’s season was ended by a visit to the Bearcats in the second round of the NIT. Cincinnati finished 22-15, losing to Indiana State in the quarterfinal round.
The move makes sense considering that one of the Bearcat assistant coaches is South grad Drew Adams, formally the Associate Athletics Director for Men’s Basketball, who was a member of the Braves staff and had a big hand in recruiting Hickman out of high school.
Hickman, who could not be reached for comment, was having a good run at Bradley.
As a freshman, he was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team, playing in all 31 Bradley games, starting 23 times. He was second in the league in scoring among freshman at 6.8 ppg. As a sophomore, he started all 34 games, averaging 8.6 points and 2 assists.
This past season, he was named to the MVC’s Most Improved Team and to the MVC All-Scholar-Athlete First Team with a 3.64 GPA. Hickman averaged a team best 14.5 ppg, 3.4 rebounds and 3 assists. He shot 46.7% from the floor and 40.2% from the 3-point line and 70.4% at the free throw line. He sank 74 3s this past season, nearly equal to the 79 made during his first two seasons.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Here’s where Bloomington South’s Hickman landed after leaving Bradley
