Phil Hickey, the Notre Dame freshman center who is battling a fear of flying, has moved into the starting lineup.
Coach John MacLeod made the move hoping for more scoring punch. The only two starters averaging double figures have been Pat Garrity and Ryan Hoover, and Hoover sometimes gets shut down as defenses surround him and collapse on Garrity.
“We believe Hickey can score in the low post–12, 15, 18 points a game if we threw it into him 15 times,” said MacLeod. “Defenses would not be able to shut all three of them down.”
The proof of Hickey’s flying rehab is yet to come. The last two flights, the Irish have chartered the comfortable plane used by the Detroit Pistons.
Hickey’s promotion has made basketball life uncomfortable for 6-foot-11-inch junior Matt Gotsch, who met with MacLeod last week about his new role.
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“What player is ever happy when they get moved out of the starting lineup?” MacLeod said. “We had a meeting and it’s all resolved. He’s practicing like a son of a gun and very supportive of Phil Hickey.”
Welcome back: When Chris Coleman broke a bone in the little toe of his right foot Dec. 2, the prognosis was that the 6-3 junior wouldn’t be able to return to the Northern Illinois lineup until Thursday night’s game at Cleveland State.
But Coleman recovered ahead of schedule. He has played in six games since leaving the disabled list, and last week on the road he demonstrated why he went into the season considered one of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference’s premier players. In the double-overtime victory at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the loss at Butler, Coleman collected an aggregate 47 points and 14 rebounds.
Staying positive: DePaul coach Joey Meyer is trying not to get negative despite his most trying season. “I’ll try to be as positive as possible,” said Meyer. “It does no good to scream at the players.”