Background
Hickman was born on October 5, 1911, in Central City, Kentucky.
Hickman was born on October 5, 1911, in Central City, Kentucky.
Hickman coached Hodgenville (Kentucky) High School and Valley High School to a combined 216-49 record. He led Valley to the Kentucky Sweet 16 twice.
He lettered three seasons at guard at Western Kentucky for head coach Editor Diddle. WKU went 83-25 during Hickman"s four years in college.
They won four KIAC Tournament Championships and one SIAA Tournament Championship.
He made the Kentucky All-State team in 1933 and 1934, the ALL-KIAC Tournament team in 1935, and the ALL-SIAA Tournament team in 1934 and 1935. He graduated from WKU in 1935 with a bachelor"s degree in physical education.
He completed his master"s degree in physical education at the University of Kentucky College of Education in 1944.
As head coach he led the Louisville Cardinals to the 1948 NAIB Championship, the 1956 National Institute of Technology Championship and the school"s first National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four in 1959. He never had a losing season in 23 years as head coach, finishing with a 443-183 overall record, a.708 winning percentage that ranks him among the top 45 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I coaches of all time. High school College University of Louisville Hickman was hired as head coach in 1944 and guided his first team to a 16-4 record.
Prior to his arrival the program only had winning seasons 11 times in 33 seasons.
The Cardinals never had a losing season in Hickman"s 23 seasons as head coach. He led Louisville to their first championship on a national level by winning the NAIB Championship in 1948.
In 1959 he led the Cardinals to their first National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament Final Four. From 1954 to 1967, Hickman doubled as head coach and athletic director, a position he would hold full-time until his retirement in 1973.
One of Hickman"s last acts as athletic director was to hire University of California, Los Angeles assistant coach Denny Crum, who would lead the program to two National Collegiate Athletic Association titles and six final fours en route to the College Basketball hall of fame.
In 24 years, Hickman compiled a record of 443-183 (708). Hickman graduated 82 percent of his players, and was the first basketball coach in Kentucky to break the color barrier in 1962, by recruiting Eddie Whitehead, and Wade Houston.