North Carolina Central University Athletics

As NCCU’s quarterback from 1959 to 1962, Richard Hicks was also an outstanding student, receiving his bachelor of science degree cum laude in 1963. He was a member of the 1961 CIAA championship team, winning honorable mention for All-CIAA and for the Pittsburgh Courier All-American team that season. He had previously been named most outstanding freshman in the 1959 season and most outstanding sophomore in the 1960 season. He is a native of Rocky Mount, N.C., where he was coached by 1992 NCCU Hall of Famer David Atkinson.

Hicks holds the master of arts degree in administration from East Carolina University. He is currently principal of Hillside High School in Durham. He is a member of Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and was named Administrator of the Year by the Mathematics and Science Education Network in 1989. He was head coach of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association East All-Star basketball team in 1974, and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association since 1989. He has also served as a Director of the Tar Heel Association of Principals, as a visiting lecturer at NCCU, and as a member of the North Carolina State Superintendent’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.

(bio from program at the time of induction)

Remembering Richard Hicks - by Greg Childress of The Herald-Sun (May 31, 2017)