Hakeem Nicks
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Hakeem Nicks (born January 14, 1988) played wide receiver for the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA college football tournament. Nicks emerged to become one of the finest receivers that came out of UNC, rewriting several entries in the school's record books---14 to be exact. Among the records he broke include the career receptions, career receiving yards, career touchdowns, and and career 100-yard receiving games.
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[edit] Personal Life
Hakeem is the son of Lisa Mason and Robert Nicks and is the stepson of Vernice Simpson. He is enrolled at the General College at UNC. Aside from football, Hakeem also plays basketball.
[edit] High School
Nicks played for coach Tommy Knotts at the Independence High School where he was a highly decorated athlete and an integral part of an unbeaten high school squad. As SuperPrep's #8 player in North Carolina and the #22 wide receiver in the country, he led Independence to a 15-0 record and a berth in the 4-AA state championship game opposite New Bern. In the title game, Nicks caught 8 passes for 205 yards (2nd-most in state-championship game history) and a couple of touchdowns (11 and 80 yards) to lead the Patriots to a 38-19 win as Charlotte Independence high school won a record sixth straight state title and bagged its 92nd-straight victory. Aside from the championship game's MVP award, Nicks also received several accolades during that season including the Charlotte Observer Offensive Player of the Year honors, an All-State selection from the North Carolina Associated Press, and All-America citations from SuperPrep and EA Sports (First Team).
Nicks also participated in the Shrine Bowl, catching 3 passes for 42 yards including a 37-yard touchdown as part of North Carolina's Shrine Bowl team. He finished his senior season as the no.1 catcher in the state of North Carolina with 93 receptions for 1,819 yards and 20 touchdowns (10 scores in the playoffs) and tallied three straight games with 10 or more catches. By the end of his prep career, he was rated as the no.4 player in North Carolina and the no.31 wide receiver in the country by Rivals.com and the no.9 player in North Carolina by The Charlotte Observer.
[edit] College
Nicks gave his verbal commitment to North Carolina on the 2nd of August, 2005.
[edit] 2006
In his first taste of college football action, Nicks went to work right away with 7 receptions (tied the single-game school record for a freshman) for 63 yards and 1 TD (2-yard pass from Joe Dailey) in a losing cause to Rutgers at his debut with the Tar Heels, but nevertheless his efforts did not went to naught as the ACC awarded him with the Rookie of the Week honors. He caught atleast a pass in the next four games before going down with an ankle sprain and missing the UNC-South Florida game. He returned and caught 6 passes for 124 yards in the next two games before turning out a remarkable performance @ Notre Dame. Against the Fighting Irish, he caught 6 passes for 171 yards (UNC single-game freshman record) and 2 touchdowns including one 72-yarder from Dailey which stood as the 20th-longest pass play in school history. He finished his rookie season tallying his second career 100-yard receiving game against Duke, with 7 receptions for 117 yards and a TD in the victory over the Blue Devils.
He ended the season as the team's leading receiver with Carolina freshman single-season records in receptions (39) and receiving yards (660) in 11 starts, while also placing third and 8th in the league with 60.0 receiving yards per game and 3.6 receptions per game, respectively. The Sporting News rewarded Nicks with an All-ACC freshman and an honorable mention freshman All-America honors while Rivals.com chose him to be part of its freshman All-America second team.
[edit] 2007
After a great maiden year as a Tar Heel, Nicks followed it up with an equally remarkable season as UNC's leading receiver during his sophomore year. He started slow with only 2 catches for 21 yards in a win over James Madison but was able to bounce back with 6 catches for 77 yards and 1 TD @ East Carolina before tallying his first 100-yard game of the year (7 catches, 113 yards, and 2 TDs) in a loss to Virginia. He registered atleast 3 receptions the rest of the year while establishing a career high of 9 catches in a loss to Wake Forest. He broke the 100-receiving yard mark a total of three times and scored a TD in four of UNC's 12 games. He had a season high 162 receiving yards in a two-point loss to Georgia Tech, averaging a season best 23.1 yards per reception against the Yellow Jackets.
He ended the year catching a total of single season record 74 passes for 958 yards and five touchdowns to earn a spot at the League's All-ACC Second team and claim the team's Art Weiner Award as the team's top receiver and the Charlie Justice Award for outstanding contribution on offense.
[edit] 2008
Nicks caught four passes for 85 yards in the Tar Heels' final spring scrimmage. He made his season debut against McNeese State and recorded his sixth career 100-yard game with six catches for 110 yards in the 35-27 win. In the road-opener at Rutgers, he caught six passes for 63 yards and a career-high tying 2 TDs in a 44-12 UNC upset win. Against Virginia Tech, he was held to 4 receptions for 51 yards as the Tar Heels succumbed to a heartbreaking 3-point defeat. At Miami, he posted his seventh career 100-yard game after catching five passes for 133 yards and a 74-yard TD in the 4th quarter that brought Carolina within three in UNC's 28-24 win. Against Connecticut, although he only had 3 catches for 55 yards and a TD, his production was enough to propell him into elite status as only the sixth 2,000-yard receiver in school history. The following week against Notre Dame, he added another feat to his resume after catching a career-high tying nine passes for a season high 141 yards to record his eighth career 100-yard game and break the record held by Octavus Barnes in the Tar Heels' 29-24 win. At Virginia, he had six receptions for 90 yards to move past Leon Johnson (151) and Sam Aiken (146) into fourth place in school history with 152 career receptions and overtook Aiken for third place in career receiving yards with 2,261 in the close 13-16 defeat. Against the 23rd ranked BC, Nicks broke out for four touchdowns (3 receiving, 1 rushing) and registered 8 receptions for 139 yards with 3 carries for 31 yards in the 45-24 UNC victory. His three TD catches of 26, 40 and 43 yards, all in the second quarter, were a career high and the most in a single game by a Tar Heel since Chesley Borders caught four at Arizona State in 2002 while his four total TDs were the most by a Tar Heel since Ronnie McGill rushed for four against Furman in 2006. His receiving production also pushed him into the #2 spot in in receiving yardage in school history. As an icing on the cake, Nicks was named as the ACC Offensive Back of the Week for the first time in the season.
Against #20 Ga.Tech, his three catches of 72 yards (and a TD) was enough to set the UNC career receiving yardage record in the Tar Heels' 28-7 win. At Maryland, he only contributed 3 catches of 57 yards as Carolina came up short, 15-17. He had nearly identical numbers in the 10-41 loss to N.C. State, hauling in 4 passes for 56 yards. In the regular-season finale at Duke, he only had 3 catches for a season low 38 yards but caught a 25-yard TD from T.J. Yates in the 28-20 win. His output against the Blue Devils however was enough to set some school records---becoming the first 1,000-yard receiver in UNC history, registering a new single season receiving yards record and matching Marcus Wall's single season TD receptions record. His 2,623 receiving yards were #1 in school history while his 173 catches were #2. In addition, he extended his streak to 25 consecutive games with a reception. In his postseason debut at the Meineke Car Care Bowl against West Virginia, Nicks padded up his resume with more school records after catching 8 passes for a career high 217 yards (2nd most by a Tar Heel) and 3 TDs in the disappointing 30-31 loss. In the first half alone, he already set school records or career receptions, career touchdown receptions, single-season touchdown receptions, bowl game receiving yards and bowl game receiving touchdowns. He also became only the third UNC player to eclipse the 200-yard receiving mark, joining Randy Marriott and Barnes. Also, his behind-the-back catch against West Virginia was ESPN's No. 1 play of the bowl season.
He finished the season with 14 school records, including single season records in receiving yards (1,222), touchdowns (12), and 100-yard receiving games (10) to go with 68 receptions, which was tied for third in school history. In addition, he also paced the league (12th in the nation) in receiving yards per game (94.0), was second in the ACC with 5.2 receptions per game, sixth with 106.9 all-purpose yards per game, and 3rd in TD scoring (13 TDs). His record-breaking season ended with a first team All-ACC accolade.
[edit] Post North Carolina
On Jan.5, 2009, Nicks announced that he would forgo his senior season to join the NFL Draft, becoming the first Tar Heel since Julius Peppers in 2001 to declare for the NFL Draft after his junior season. Among the 14 school records established by Nicks include career receptions (181), career receiving yards (2,580), career touchdowns (21), and career 100-yard games (10). He also caught at least one pass in 26 straight games and had a catch in 35 of 36 career games.
[edit] Career Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | Kickoff Returns | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | Ret/G | Yds/G |
| 2006 | 39 | 660 | 16.9 | 83 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 101 | 20.20 | 0 | 0.5 | 9.2 |
| 2007 | 74 | 958 | 12.9 | 53 | 5 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2008 | 68 | 1222 | 18.0 | 74 | 12 | 5 | 34 | 6.8 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 134 | 19.14 | 0 | 0.5 | 10.3 |
[edit] Highlights
| Nicks' best game as a rookie in a loss @ Notre Dame with 6 catches for 171 yards. |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- ACC Offensive Back of the Week (vs. BC)
- ACSMA/AP First-Team All-ACC
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-ACC Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-Bowl Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com Honorable Mention All-American
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #1 WR in the ACC
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #9 Player in the ACC
- Media Preseason All-ACC
- Phil Steele All-ACC First Team
- Progress Energy Tar Heel of the Week (vs. BC, vs. Notre Dame)
- Rivals.com All-ACC First Team
- UNC's Art Weiner Award - Outstanding Receiver
- UNC's E. Carrington Smith Award - Most Valuable Player Offense
[edit] 2007
- ACC All-Conference Second Team
- ACC Rookie of the Week (vs. Rutgers)
- Art Weiner Award (team's top receiver)
- Charlie Justice Award (outstanding contribution on offense)
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #28 Player in the ACC
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #3 Wide Receiver in the ACC
- Phil Steele All-ACC First Team
- Rivals.com All-ACC First Team
[edit] 2006
- CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America Honorable Mention
- Jeffrey Cowell Memorial Award (Outstanding Freshman)
- Rivals.com freshman All-America second team
- The Sporting News freshman All-ACC Offense
- The Sporting News freshman All-America honorable mention
[edit] References
- Hakeem Nicks North Carolina Profile
- Hakeem Nicks Stats @ ESPN.com
- Independence Patriots beat New Bern Bears, 38-19
- Mapp, Nicks Named Team MVPs at 2007 Football Banquet
