# Jessie Hicks

Jessie Hicks (born December 2, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was chosen to be a member of the 2013 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament Legends Roster, a class of 12 former-student-athletes who represent three decades of basketball.

## Professional career

Hicks was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 1997 WNBA Draft by the Utah Starzz. In her debut game on June 21, 1997, Hicks played for four and half minutes and recorded only one rebound as a statistic, as the Starzz fell to the Sacramento Monarchs 61 - 73. She would only play for the Starzz her rookie year, averaging 3.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10 minutes per game.

### Pregnancy and fight back into the WNBA

At the end of her rookie season, Hicks would discover that she was pregnant. She would be placed on the injury reserve list for the Starzz as she recovered from giving the birth of her son, Jamon Emmanuel Hicks. She was eventually waived by the Starzz on April 30, 1999. Hicks has spoken publicly about the pregnancy, her difficulty with recovering and her determination to get back into the league afterwards. Saying "The doctor gives you six weeks to get your body back to normal. I didn't recover like that. Three months, it took me. And I'd gained a lot of weight — 60 pounds. But I had the desire to get back into shape."
Hicks would not return to the WNBA until the spring of 2000 (2 and a half years after the final game of her rookie season) where she signed to the Orlando Miracle's training camp and made the final roster going into the 2000 season. As an appreciation token for her drive and determination to return to the league, she started for the Miracle in their season opener on May 31, 2000. However, this would be her only game that year where she was a starter as the Miracle decided to start Cíntia Santos and Taj McWilliams-Franklin at the center and power forward positions for every other game of the season. She would play for the Miracle for four years (in the fourth year, the Miracle moved to Connecticut and became the Connecticut Sun with her most productive one being her third year, averaging 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. The fourth year (as a member of the now Sun) would be the only time Hicks would make the playoffs in her career, but the Sun were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Detroit Shock.
After the 2003 season ended, Hicks signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Silver Stars on February 4, 2004. In 27 games for the Silver Stars (starting in 10 of them), Hicks averaged 13.7 minutes per game along with 4.7 points and 2.1 rebounds as the Stars finished with the worst record in the league (9-25).
Because the Stars missed the playoffs, Hicks final WNBA game ever ended up being the last regular season game of the Stars' schedule that year on September 17, 2004. On that day, the Stars defeated the Charlotte Sting 82 - 65 with Hicks recording 2 points, 4 rebounds a 1 block in her final game.

## Personal life

Hicks earned a degree in criminal justice in 1993. She later earned a master's of education in guidance and counseling. She has two children.

## Career statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
| 1997 | Utah | 26 | 0 | 10.1 | .463 | .000 | .563 | 1.4 | .4 | .5 | .4 | .5 | 3.2 |
| 2000 | Orlando | 26 | 1 | 6.0 | .4835 | – | .621 | 1.0 | .2 | .1 | .3 | .7 | 1.5 |
| 2001 | Orlando | 32° | 5 | 14.3 | .389 | – | .652 | 2.9 | .7 | .7 | .5 | 1.7 | 5.3 |
| 2002 | Orlando | 31 | 6 | 15.2 | .477 | – | .698 | 3.3 | .7 | .6 | .8 | 1.6 | 6.1 |
| 2003 | Connecticut | 27 | 0 | 9.4 | .463 | – | .960 | 1.8 | .2 | .4 | .3 | 1.0 | 3.6 |
| 2004 | San Antonio | 27 | 10 | 13.7 | .468 | – | .605 | 2.1 | .7 | .6 | .5 | 1.3 | 4.7 |
| Career | 6 years, 2 teams | 169 | 22 | 11.7 | .447 | .000 | .679 | 2.1 | .5 | .5 | .5 | 1.1 | 4.2 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
| 2003 | Connecticut | 4 | 0 | 6.8 | .625 | – | – | 1.5 | .3 | .0 | .3 | .5 | 2.5 |