Basketball recruits Jamal Lewis, Tony Hicks face off in tournament

It was a serendipitous but fun matchup in Washington, D.C., last night as Sidwell Friends' (D.C.) point guard Jamal Lewis played against Tony Hicks of St. Rita's (Chicago) in the opening round of the Gonzaga DC Classic. The two seniors will be teammates next year on the Penn basketball team.

The Sidwell Quakers came away with a 63-46 win, as Lewis scored 17 on 6-for-14 shooting, 0-for-3 from deep. Hicks led St. Rita's with 16 points (he hit four 3-pointers on the night). Sidwell recovered from an early 18-7 hole, but built a 14-point lead by halftime and never looked back.

While Lewis got the win, Hicks is getting a little more attention. Last night, ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep tweeted this:

CSNChicago.com published a solid feature on Hicks yesterday

"He is one of the most underrated players in the state," [coach Gary] DeCesare said. "He is a hard worker. He has improved every year. He is as good as anybody in the state. His work ethic separates him from other players."

Penn was impressed. They recruited Hicks harder than anyone else. In the end, he chose Penn over Loyola, South Florida, Tennessee, Dayton, Ohio, George Mason and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"They showed me they really wanted me," Hicks said. "I was hesitant at first because I felt it would be too learny and book-smart. But they were down-to-earth and genuine, cool people. They showed up at all my games and showed they really wanted me."