UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel big man Isaiah Hicks on the move

Former UNC basketball standout and 2017 national champion Isaiah Hicks is on the move this summer.

Isaiah Hicks will be participating in this year’s NBA Summer League as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. For Hicks, 27, it’s a second shot at a career in the NBA after playing abroad for the past two years.

Hicks went undrafted following his graduation from the University of North Carolina in the spring of 2017, but he was able to secure a two-way contract with the New York Knicks and their G-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, from 2017 to 2019. He made 18 appearances for New York during the 2017-18 season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. The following season, Hicks made just three appearances for New York with similar numbers as his 18 games prior.

While Hicks’ contributions at the NBA level may have been fairly minimal, it was a completely different story for him in the G-League. In 64 appearances over the two-year span — 63 of which he started — Hicks averaged 16 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting nearly 54 percent from the floor and better than 80 percent at the free throw line.

In the time since, Hicks has played for BC Avtodor, a Russian professional basketball organization that plays at the country’s highest level. The club is based in Saratov, and plays in the VTB United League. He’s currently signed with the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League. He started 51 of the 54 games he played for the Thunders last season, averaging 17.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and a league-leading 1.5 blocks per game.

During his time in Chapel Hill, Hicks played in 151 games — second-most all time at UNC — and won a national title in 2017. He had his best season as a senior when he averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 57.6 percent from the floor.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on Isaiah Hicks, and UNC basketball alumni in the NBA Summer League.