Gonzaga's Nolan Hickman finds balance within himself in leadership role with Zags: 'Guys follow him'

Bulldogs senior guard is living in the moment as he takes on a leadership role in his last year of college basketball

Gonzaga Bulldogs senior guard Nolan Hickman. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

There’s a quote hanging up in Nolan Hickman’s locker that reads “Never too high, never too low.” It’s actually a direct line from Drew Timme, who used to say that exact phrase to Hickman when he was still finding his way as a freshman in college.

Four years later, Hickman has learned to take all the good that comes with the bad, and everything else in between, as he embraces a senior leadership role in his final year with the Gonzaga men’s basketball program.  

“It's pretty much just saying this game, in this way of college, it's a job, it's work,” Hickman said. “So having an understanding of not being too high and never too low in certain instances is an art. Because you could easily be caught up in a lot of things that make you emotional.”

Maintaining a level head throughout the ebbs and flows of a college basketball game didn’t come naturally at times for Hickman, who arrived in Spokane in 2021 with high expectations as a McDonald’s All-American and four-star recruit out of Wasatch Academy (Utah).

“I think sometimes in the past, he would be too high in the highs and then too low on the lows, and we wouldn't find that consistency,” Bulldogs assistant coach R-Jay Barsh said of Hickman. “And so now, with the consistent part that he has, guys follow him. Guys follow someone who's consistent, and that's where he's leveling right now.”

Through eight games this season, Hickman is averaging 11.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists. His scoring is slightly down from his career-high average from last season, though he’s been much more efficient from the floor as a result. Hickman is 35-for-69 (50.7%) from the field and 18-for-39 (46.2%) from the 3-point range, having made at least one triple in all but one outing thus far into 2024-25. Inside the arc, the floater has become a reliable shot attempt for the 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard. 

In practice, Hickman’s voice echoes louder throughout the McCarthey Athletic Center than it had in the past. So much so in fact that Barsh, known for his unwavering passion and energy, hasn’t had to raise his tone lately because his senior has already taken on the responsibility of delivering his coach’s messages to the team.

“I think recognizing his voice — he is always a thinker analytically, so knowing what to say, when to say, and how to say it, and then to echo what the coaches are saying and reinforce some of our core values as a team,” Barsh said in regard to what’s helped Hickman grow as a leader. “Yesterday in practice coach Few gave him a shout-out — he said ‘Nolan you've been great with your voice today’ — and that's something three or four years ago you would not have heard.”

“He’s always trying to raise the energy of the room,” Barsh said. “He knows the power in that because in the past, the energy, when it was deflating, it would also take him out of the room. So the growth is he doesn't do that anymore. He recognizes when he's in that moment, and he can see himself get out of it. And so that that's been really impactful for our team, that he's an energy giver every single day right now.”

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