NOTE: On October 4th, the Jackson Parish Sports Hall of Fame will enshrine four new members as the Class of 2025 during their annual Induction Banquet that will be held in the Family Life Center of the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro. Over the next couple of weeks, the Jackson Parish Journal will celebrate their legacy with a special feature on each. Today’s Edition: Larry Hicks

Jonesboro-Hodge was trailing arch-rival Winnfield by ten points midway through the third quarter of the crucial district 3-2A contest. Tiger head coach Wayne Alford called timeout and with his team gathered around, started diagramming on his markerboard the play he wanted his team to run.

The play was referred to as a pin-down screen, where two players moved into position to set a screen for another to come around to the “elbow” which is what the area just to the side of the free throw line is called. A pass would then be made to the player coming off the screen for the shot. 

Back on the court the Tigers inbounded the ball, ran the play and made the basket. It worked so well, Alford called for it to be run again, and again, and again – in fact, ten times in a row, as JHHS clawed back from the deficit on their way to a second straight district championship and a 31-3 overall record, the best winning percentage in the 78 years that Jonesboro-Hodge has competed in LHSAA competition.

The play was one Alford always seemed to call when JHHS needed points. His confidence in the play stemmed from having a “go-to” guy, one of the best marksmen in Tiger history – Larry Hicks.  

“Coach Alford knew my favorite spot to shoot from was the elbow,” recalled Hicks. “He was great at designing plays that put us in the best position to be successful.” 

Despite being short in stature, Hicks, who checked in at 5’6″ tall, was a giant when it came to making crucial baskets, adept at shooting over defenders many inches taller than he was, a skill he gives credit to his father for developing.

“My father (Samuel Hicks) was not that tall either and knowing that I wasn’t going to be tall, worked with me from a very young age to show me how to shoot over taller people.” 

Hicks also gives credit to his ability to shoot well and his playmaking ability to older mentors like Randy Robinson (1979) and Greg Harrell (1981), who took the time to impart their knowledge when they would gather for games played at “Sugarhill”. 

“I always looked up to those guys as they had been very successful,” reflected Hicks. “They were always playing in the backyard games we played at Sugarhill and I knew if I could play with them then I could play with anybody.” 

Now a girls basketball coach at Silver Palms High School in Miami, Fl and coach of an AAU team that has seen roughly 80 girls earn scholarships to play in college over the years, Hicks says it is the lessons he learned in junior high and high school that he uses while instructing his players. 

“I was blessed to have two wonderful coaches in Willie Stringer at Rundell Junior High and Coach Alford,” said Hicks. “Coach Stringer was a great motivator and disciplinarian while Alford was one of the best X and O guys I have ever been around, with a great ability to run offenses that were designed to play to the strength of his players.” 

Hicks also recalls that other things he learned from the two coaches and his playing days experience like the importance of teamwork and never taking anything for granted.

“We had several really good guys on our team like Vince Lewis, Anthony Bradford and Charles Andrews, all who could take over a game at any time, which taught me the important of playing as a team,” said Hicks. “I also learned never to take anything for granted, which was reinforced the hard way in the quarterfinals of the playoffs that we lost when we thought that we had the best team in the state.”

Having earned All-District and All-State accolades during his playing day, Hicks is very appreciative of being included in the Jackson Parish Sport Hall of Fame.

“I consider being acknowledged in this way a great privilege,” said Hicks. “To be in the same circle as all the many great players that came from Jackson Parish is a tremendous honor.” 

There is no doubt that Hicks deserves the honor of being one of the “go to” guys that the Jackson Parish Sports Hall of Fame chose to represent the Class of 2025.