Billy Hicks Obituary, Georgetown KY Basketball Coach Billy Hicks Has Died, Learn More

Billy Hicks Obituary, Death cause – No one wore Billy Hicks’s characteristic red suit or any of his various hats more well than he did. Originally from Harlan County, Kentucky, Hicks became a renowned and legendary character in Georgetown and Scott County, three hours northwest of Louisville, as he gravitated into teaching and coaching as a means to escape the danger and tedium of the coal mines. Tragically, Hicks passed away unexpectedly at his Pinehurst Drive home on Sunday night following a medical emergency. His age was seventy-one.

“There will never be another like him, and I am grateful that I was able to cross paths with him,” wrote Michael Moreno, a former Scott County star and current Eastern Kentucky University standout, in a Facebook post. Superintendent Billy Parker of Scott County Schools spoke highly of Hicks’ impact on the community across generations in a message to teachers and students. While Parker was a student at Scott County High School, her father, Bill, was the president of the athletic booster club. “Coach Hicks first came to Scott County High School while I was a student there,” Parker said. I seen firsthand how Coach Hicks changed the atmosphere at our school.

I, too, can recall the commotion and anticipation that his hiring generated, as does everyone else in our town at the time. Throughout his tenure, success persisted.
The coach has had an unparalleled and extraordinary impact on the Wildcats, but statistics alone cannot capture that magnitude. With two KHSAA state titles under his belt, he retired in 2019 as the winningest boys’ basketball coach in Kentucky history, having led Scott County High School to victory. Beyond being the best high school coach Kentucky has ever had or will ever have, he was an incredible role model and human being, Moreno remarked. His interests have always extended beyond basketball.

His devotion to his loved ones permeated the team and its members. Hicks worked his way up the coaching ladder from his alma college, Evarts, to Harlan and finally Corbin, where he remained for 25 of his 38 seasons. Scott County was his final stop. There will be no one who can top his record of 1,013 victories and 276 defeats for quite some time. Rodney Woods of Wayne County is now the active leader with 800 victories, and he is one of just two boys’ coaches with more than 900 victories. “A lot of ex-players and past teams really went into the decision to come back,” Hicks remarked when he retired. They were aiming for that 1,000 win total. It was really meaningful to them, but I didn’t put much stock in it.

Over the course of his career, Hicks guided Scott County to seven trips to Rupp Arena, site of the state’s legendary Sweet 16 championship game. The Cardinals won it all in 1998 and again in 2007. After guiding SC to runner-up finishes in his last two seasons, he decided to step away in 2019. Hicks took SC to new heights right away; he had a feeling about the town’s potential while driving about on the day of his interview, thus the program had always been something of which the community was proud. A historic semifinal victory over top-ranked Lexington Catholic in 1998 was the icing on the cake on an incredible path to the 1998 state championship.

With less than a minute remaining in the game, the Cardinals rallied from a five-point deficit thanks to an unusual four-point play by Casey Alsop, a bank jumper by Michael Scaravilli, and two free throws by Mario “Goo” McIntyre. Rick Jones of South Carolina dribbled the ball to within 25 feet of the hoop and launched an answered prayer at the buzzer after the Knights hit a tie 3-pointer with five seconds remaining. Taking a cue from the legendary Jim Valvano, Hicks sprinted from the coach’s box to the jubilant crowd on the baseline, obviously looking for someone to embrace, following in the footsteps of NC State’s miraculous 1983 NCAA championship victory.

“Rick nails it. “When I look up, Coach Hicks is chasing Rick,” remembered A.W. Hamilton, who is now the men’s basketball coach at EKU and was a junior shooting guard when the team won the title, in an interview for an article commemorating the title’s 25th anniversary. It was a joyous day for all the team members, he continued. We are now 2-0 against Lexington Catholic, a team from which we had to begin. They rank in the top five nationally. We are here despite everyone’s doubts that they might be defeated. Words fail to capture the depth of my feelings about that. Later that night, in a hard championship game, Scott County prevailed against Paintsville, which included ce nter J.R. VanHoose, another great of Kentucky’s history.

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