The Dixie Heights Colonels/Edgewood, Kentucky have a chance to make some noise in the Kentucky 5A District 5 playoffs this year. Giante Hicks wants to be the guy to lead them to a championship.
The Colonels finished the 2016 season at 6-5 overall (2-1 District). They have their first crack at a state championship at home against the Southern Trojans 5-6 (4-2 District) / Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, November 4 at 7:30 pm.
Giante Hicks, a senior wide receiver for Dixie Heights, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio but also calls Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky home.
“…My dad lives in Cincinnati and my mom lives in Ft. Mitchell. I could say both because Ft. Mitchell is basically like Cincinnati. It means a lot to me because football is big over here and around this area. I just like the atmosphere of it and I’ve been here my whole life so I don’t really know anything else different,” he said.
Hicks is playing for his family. His motivation for playing the sport is making sure that his parents don’t have to worry about paying for his education. His grandfather is someone he looks up to and wants to emulate.
“My grandad. He has always had an impact on me. He’s like a person I grew up with and [have been] looking up to. A person I want to be like because he’s successful and he always tells me the right things to do.”
The 5’11, 206 pound, wide receiver holds offers from Kentucky Christian University, Robert Morris and Cincinnati Christian University. His top three schools at the moment are Montana, Robert Morris, and Ohio University.
So what does Giante Hicks do well on the football field? Well for one, he’s not afraid to get physical with a defender and block him. A wide receiver that can help the running game is an even more valuable commodity for an offense and only adds to the wide receiver’s value as a whole.
“I think the best part of my game is I’m more physical than a lot of people I play against. I think that’s the best part of my game and I just go hard pretty much every play. That makes up for a lot of stuff on the field,” he said.
He admitted though that he needs to get faster on both sides of the ball because he also plays linebacker and makes plays on both sides.
Giante Hicks is a hard worker, a leader on the field and he leads by example.
“I’m always doing the right things. I don’t go out on nights and do all that partying stuff, that’s not me.”
He wants to be ranked in the top 10 or top 20 in all-purpose yards, one of the top outside linebackers and tacklers in Northern Kentucky and make the All-City and All-District teams on offense and defense.
His ultimate goal and the goal of the Dixie Heights Colonels is to win a state championship. The playoff push begins Friday, November 4.
