By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Euroleague… the competition in which everything can be possible during the season and history is being made in the most unexpected way! Who could have though back in October that Maccabi Tel Aviv of coach David Blatt will be the new Euroleague champion?
And who could have believed the incredible journey of Maccabi‘s point guard “Ulysses” Ricky Hickman? Who could expect that a 29 years old American guard after a college career in UNC Greensboro would finally climb on top of Europe, when he was searching just for a chance to play professional basketball back in 2007 while he was also working in the American post service.
At this point, the first European call came and his first chance to play pro ball. In Romania! It was a unique road from winter of 2007 until May of 2014 in order for Hickman to ding his Ithaca and became a Euroleague champion and also an All Euroleague second team member. It included stops in Romania, Germany, Finland, Italy and the final destination was the promised land in Israel….
In Romania, as a member of CS Otopeni seven years ago, he didn’t had water in his apartment. Now he is drinking the champagne of absolute happiness and he likes to share one of the craziest stories ever in European basketball!
Shower? Only at the gym..
“What I experienced in Romania was just crazy. I was living in a very small apartment along with two more American players. Until the last three months of the season, we didn’t have water. We have to walk to the gym in order to get a shower and get washed. I played for small money. Team conditions and gym were awful. It was depressing to look outside the window sometimes. Everywhere you look it looked like the slums. I am not sure there it still exists. I think it vanished, it went bankrupt or something. I had a good year but I still knew that might not be enough get me a good job”. Then the next season came..
The worst possible combination
Next stop, Germany and Giessen 46ers! “When I got to Germany I was happy cause they had some American restaurants and my apartment was nice but I wasn’t happy at all play there… The team wasn’t good and I didn’t play as much as I wanted and that’s the worse combination of situations. After Germany I knew I would have to take a even smaller job.. But I needed to go somewhere were I could play”
The coldest place!
“That’s how I ended up playing in Finland. It was probably the coldest place I’ve ever been, but basketball wise I loved it. I got to have the ball in my hands the whole game (ed.note: he laughs) and they told me “shoot every ball and just run the team”. So I led league in scoring and assist and then got the call from Marco Crespi. He is now the head coach of Siena but at the time he coached Casale in the second Italian division”.
Italy, 2010-11
“After the season in Finland coach Crespi brought me there for the playoffs as bit as an insurance guy. So I didn’t play, I was there really to train with him and get ready for the next year. He brought me back, we won the championship, I was the MVP that season”.
The explosion!
His domination in the second Italian division led him to Scavolini Pesaro. It was one more “full” season and in the summer of 2012, the big break came. Maccabi Tell Aviv! “Then after that the rest is history”, says Ricky Hickman who is still trying to grasp the reality of him being the Euroleague champion, even if he still one monkey to get of his back.
“At first it felt like a dream but now it’s starting to sink in that I’m really a Euroleague champ. I got to say I felt we really deserved it because we were the most united team and played with the most heart. Is this the beginning of a golden era? I don’t know. I know that this team we have right now could compete for another title next year but we will see… We made history and everyone deserves to be rewarded. I don’t know what the future holds for me, like the years during which I didn’t know how I will make my leaving. When I was playing in small cities and lower divisions across Europe in order to do what I love: play basketball. Now I am starting to think about the Israeli league finals. I feel that I am still haunted by last season’s failure to get the title”…
The craziest story
Ricky’s good friend since their years in Greensboro, former Euroleague champion Kyle Hines, had a very hard time in Milan last weekend. However he is also happy for his old friend.
“Ricky deserved it! I believe that his story is the “craziest” among Euroleague champions! He been through too much in the four years he was running from place to place around Europe in order to play. He more than deserves the recognition. For me, he is the definition of dedication and a great example, because of his hard work and his faith that he could make it. HI had the chance to be close to him all those years and I am very happy. Well done Ricky”!
In the epic poem Odyssey, Ulysses spend 10 years at the sea before returning to his homeland, Ithaca. Richard Marciano Ηickman needed 7 seasons in Europe in order to get from the bottom to the peak of old continent’s basketball, which seems to be his own “Ithaca”.
Nothing was given to him for free. Anything. Not even running water in his apartment during his first European season.
There’s no secret in your work. You just have to do it as hard as you can every day. Work hard and never lose your faith.
And there can’t be a more deserving Euroleague champion that Ricky Hickman. We have to thank you for this life lesson. And may every time you look at your own Euroleague miniature trophy to remember everything you had to overcome in order to get it.
And in your reflection on it, to see a genuine, “clean” happy face!