Talented shooting guard Owen Hickey transferring from Alberta to join his sister at MacEwan
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Maroon and White is now the dominant colour of merchandise in the Hickey household.
After having to split allegiances the last two seasons with daughter Samantha on the MacEwan women's basketball team and son Owen on the Alberta men's basketball team, the Hickey family will be all in for the Griffins next season.
Owen Hickey is taking advantage of a new U SPORTS rule that allows student-athletes to transfer following their first or second years of eligibility without having to sit out a season, and is joining the Griffins men's basketball team in 2026-27.
"They're very different," said Griffins head coach David Kapinga of the Hickey siblings. "It's really cool they're both here. It's funny, we talked about it: if you mix the both of them together, you'd have the perfect player. He brings the shooting, she brings the defence and the length.
"What we know is Owen is a great team defender – he knows where the ball should go. For us, that's going to be very important as we teach our younger guys those rotations. He'll be someone who's very in tune with what we're trying to do and help our younger guys to get there."
Hickey's specialty, though, is shooting the ball. The talented shooting guard has been a standout going back to high school when he rained threes for Jasper Place – notably earning all-star praise from The Maple Minute blog for his play during the prestigious 2023 REB tournament.
"Speaking of scoring with confidence, the next prospect may have shown some of the most elite and transferable talent in the entire tournament," wrote Harrison Paulichuk. "Jasper Place's very own Owen Hickey was a standout in this tournament to me – a 6-3 shooting guard who has the confidence to shoot NBA distance threes on command."
With the Golden Bears the last two seasons, Hickey flashed that ability at the U SPORTS level, but was used too sparingly to put up numbers. Hickey averaged 1.8 points/game last season in 6.3 minutes/game off the bench for the Golden Bears.
"We're talking about bringing in talented individuals and he's a very talented shooter," said Kapinga. "Our goal this year is to bring in talent and then help the talent grow. So, bringing in some transfers who have experience to help the talent catch up quickly instead of us waiting three years for the talent to be good. Owen is one of those guys.
"From the moment he got here, he's been a vocal leader. He's been amazing at helping guys figure out solutions to problems. He's been great at helping guys understand where to look at and just how to behave as a U SPORTS player in a successful program as U of A has been.
"Being able to grab someone like him has been a blessing and I think it's going to help us accelerate our end goal, which is to make playoffs and do some damage."
