New U of L grad transfer details his decision

Tony Hicks came to the University of Louisville over the weekend and took in the Cards' 65-57 win over Wake Forest. He fell in love with the KFC Yum! Center and the high expectations that come with playing for Louisville, and even when he was told to sleep on his decision to commit to U of L, the former Penn star pushed ahead.

"It was just something I couldn't pass up," said Hicks, who will graduate from Penn in mid-May and enroll at U of L later that month. "I'm just excited for the opportunity to be on this stage like this. I'm willing to do anything to help them."

Hicks, a 6-foot-2 guard from Chicago who led Penn in scoring the past two seasons, said he was also considering Miami, Nevada and Oregon, but he canceled a planned unofficial visit to Oregon after visiting Louisville.

New U of L grad transfer details his decision

His close friendship with U of L grad transfer Damion Lee, who played at Drexel during the same time that Hicks was at Penn, played a big role in Hicks' decision to come to Louisville. Lee has become an instant star with the Cards, and he told his friend that the same path could be perfect for him.

Q&A with new U of L grad transfer Tony Hicks

"Once I got to college, freshman year was a struggle, but from the end of that freshman year and into that summer, I felt like I could play wherever," said Hicks, who scored 15 or more points in six of the final seven games of his freshman season. "Then seeing the success Damion and Trey are having, it all made sense to me."

Hicks said Louisville wants him to play a role similar to that of former standout Terry Rozier, who was a first-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics last summer. He is a combination guard who is comfortable with the ball in his hands. He averaged 13.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game as a junior last season, shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from 3-point range.

He decided not to play this season for Penn after what he called a mutual agreement between him and first-year coach Steve Donahue that Hicks wasn't the best fit for Donahue's system. Hicks said he respected Donahue's decision and left on good terms with the program.

He still works out at the Penn basketball facility, with the only stipulation being that he can't be there when the team is using the weight room or gym. When Penn originally announced Hicks' transfer, Donahue said the program and school would do all it could to help Hicks finish his bachelor's degree in sociology and continue his career elsewhere.

Q&A with new U of L grad transfer Tony Hicks

"It was very interesting," Hicks said. "I felt like Coach Donahue had hit it off very well throughout the summer and everything. A few weeks before our first game, he felt it would be better if I did this, because he didn't feel that my playing style fit how he wanted to play and how he wanted to go forward in the future. He felt he couldn't jeopardize that with me being his leading player. I thought about it, and thought if he doesn't feel this is the best place for me, then I should feel it out."

Hicks' three seasons at Penn did have some tumultuous times. He was suspended for four games over that span, once for failing a drug test and another time for punching a Columbia player during a game.

Looking back on those issues, Hicks said he has learned a lot from experiences, and that coach Rick Pitino told him Louisville would not tolerate any of those incidents if he came there.

"First and foremost, Coach Pitino told me that if this is something that will be a problem, then don't come," Hicks said. "There has been so much going on at Louisville, so I understand that. But looking back on it, it was just being not mature. It was me not being my own man, following the wrong crowd. There was frustration with technical (fouls), and it was just me worrying about things I can't control.

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"Just me growing up, especially now, looking back, it wasn't that serious. It wasn't something I should have let bother me. I can let things go now. It's just being a lot more mature."

In turn, Hicks said the ongoing NCAA investigation into allegations against Louisville's basketball program did come up in his thought process, but none of it was enough to deter him from the Cards.

"It did (come up). It absolutely did," Hicks said. "But at the same time, it's Louisville. It's Coach Pitino. It's the ACC. They honestly don't feel that anything will happen – at the most, (lose) a few scholarships, which won't impact me much.

"(Pitino) felt absolute worst-case scenario is no (NCAA tournament). If that were to happen, that wasn't a dealbreaker. I felt comfortable with it. I really just felt like they won't get punished too bad. It was something nobody who is there now had known about."

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Now Hicks is ready to join the team and get started. He has been working out with Brandon Payne, the trainer who works with NBA MVP Steph Curry, and he has been watching "a ton of basketball" to stay sharp.

He expects to receive his paperwork from Louisville while he's still at home in Chicago for the holidays, and he wants to complete it all before he returns to Penn this coming weekend.

He said he is hoping to make an official visit to U of L for the Cards' home game against North Carolina on Feb. 1.

"I am committed. I'm done," he said. "I couldn't pass up playing for Rick Pitino and Louisville."