Hicks, Ferry, LIU eager to hear NCAA seed

In the days leading up to the Northeast Conference Tournament, Long Island U. guard David Hicks was confident his team would win the championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-1 senior said if the Blackbirds lost in the NEC Tournament, they wouldn't want to even play in the NIT, a berth they secured after winning the regular-season conference title.

He was speaking figuratively, but his point was well taken. LIU (27-5) had done too much to be denied its goal of making the NCAA Tournament. The Blackbirds reached that objective in earning the program's first NCAA bid since 1997 with an 85-82 overtime win over Robert Morris in the NEC title game Wednesday night.

"We knew we had a special group," Hicks said. "We were pretty focused on making the tournament all year."

Hicks got to experience a little of what the NCAA Tournament had to offer last season. His best friend Kwadzo Ahelegbe is the starting point guard for Northern Iowa. Hicks was on hand as Northern Iowa beat UNLV and upset Kansas on its way to the Sweet 16.

"I got to experience through a best-friend aspect," Hicks said. "After seeing that, I knew that's where I wanted to be."

But the job isn't finished.

LIU doesn't fancy itself as a typical mid-major team.

The Blackbirds are riding a nation-best 13-game winning streak, and through Thursday, were fourth in the country in scoring (82.6) and third in rebounding (41.8). Four of their starters are scoring in double figures, and a fifth is averaging 9.3 points.

Sophomores Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere average 12.9 points each, Hicks 11.0 and and fellow senior Kyle Johnson 10.8.

With such a solid resume, LIU is convinced it can win in the tournament, which is why Blackbirds coach Jim Ferry isn't ready to start taking any bows.

"Our conference RPI is 18, which is pretty high," Ferry said. "We have the country's longest winning streak and the most road wins."

As of Saturday afternoon, LIU's RPI ranking was 76. Those are facts that Ferry said warrants his squad getting consideration for a decent seed. "That doesn't sound like a team that will be happy with just getting there," Ferry said. "If we get the right seed and the right matchup, then it's all about playing basketball."

Last year's NEC representative, Robert Morris, was a 15-seed and nearly upset No. 2 Villanova in the first round before suffering a 73-70 defeat in overtime.

Ferry isn't sure if that will have any impact on his team's seeding, but he thinks his group is better than that Robert Morris team.

"When looks at our body of work, they'll see we have the ability to do something," said Ferry said.

Hicks agreed.

"We won the conference regular-season title, which isn't easy to do and we won the tournament," Hicks said. "Hopefully, they see how dominant we were."

For Hicks, to spend his last few games competing for a national championship is a living dream.

"I feel like I've done something," Hicks said. "I didn't just come here and play basketball. I feel like I left a mark on the program and helped bring basketball back to Brooklyn."