Freshman Dickey gives hoops low-post presence

As one of the rare breed of true power forwards coming out of high school according to his coach at Marlboro County High School, freshman Ra'Sean Dickey has established his low-post role in the Tech lineup.

Dickey has seen most of his playing time this season at the center position as a result of his skills on the low block. He has emerged as the primary backup to Luke Schenscher for the Jackets.

The big man has racked up six points a game, which is quite a feat as Dickey is averaging only nine minutes each game while piling on roughly four rebounds in the same amount of playing time.

Despite his extraordinary ability to score at a consistent rate within a few feet of the basket, perhaps his most remarkable characteristic is the potential he brings to the table.

"Everything I am doing this year, I want to improve upon next year," Dickey said in an interview after practice last week. "The freshmen are going to be a big part of the program next year along with the people coming back. We're all going to be battling for playing time and we just want to keep the program going along."

Averaging 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks a game as a high school senior, his stat-line and game play reminded fellow freshman Zam Fredrick of the Sacramento Kings' Chris Webber, one of the best power forwards in professional basketball .

Fredrick and Dickey played alongside each other on their AAU squad, the South Carolina Ravens, and the tandem took the team to new heights with the squad finishing the year ranked No. 22 in the country. The two made a collective choice to attend Tech.

His high school and AAU performances bolstered him into the national recruiting spotlight where he was ranked as high as No. 26 nationally by some recruiting agencies. Dickey was a key component Coach Hewitt's 2004 recruiting class that was ranked No. 15 in the country and No. 2 in the ACC according to Bob Gibbons.

In the end the choice was between Auburn and Tech, and Dickey had two good reasons to choose Tech: the vibrancy of the city of Atlanta and the ability to play as a freshman.

"I signed before [Tech's appearance in] the Final Four," Dickey said, recalling the day he signed his letter of intent. "I signed before my high school season and before Tech's season started. Basically I wanted to be somewhere in the city and out of the country where I know I could have a lot of fun and earn a lot of playing time."

Despite the outstanding numbers he put up in high school, the South Carolina native found the adjustment to the college game as tough as any other freshman, especially when asked to carry some of the heavy load left by the injury to teammate B.J. Elder for the first part of the ACC season.

Dickey has been impressive at times, but he has also shown a streak of inconsistency that is expected from freshmen. Along with the brilliant performances have come games like Dickey's first trip to Duke, when he had a difficult time against Shelden Williams and Tech's home win against Wake Forest when Dickey picked up three quick fouls and had a difficult time staying on the court.

"It was hard at first. I just had to get down to playing hard all the time like I did in high school. I was like this my freshman year of high school, so I am just going through the whole process again. I am not worried; my time will come," Dickey said .

Coach Hewitt aided Dickey immensely in his transition.

"He is not afraid to tell you what is on his mind or what he thinks about you. If you are playing bad, he will tell you that you need to pick it up; he will tell you what he thinks of you, and that I respect," Dickey said.

Unlike teammate Anthony Morrow, Dickey sees considerable differences between his high school coach, Keven Spencer and Hewitt. "[Coach Hewitt] is more laid back than my high school coach," Dickey said. "[He] is much taller than my high school coach. He was 5'10" and he was always ranting and raving and we would be up by 20 and he would still be at the sideline ranting and raving. You would never catch Coach Hewitt like that unless it was a real bad call."

These differences have allowed him to adapt quickly to Tech compared to his days playing for Marlboro County.

But perhaps the real driving force behind Dickey's game derives from his earlier coaches as well as his mother. Both agreed that with a fix in attitude, his game would allow itself to elevate to the college level.

"I had a quick temper, and I was short on the court. My coaches used to tell me I would not go anywhere with my attitude and that no college coach would want a player with that kind of attitude. My mom used to tell me that same thing so I knew I had to make a change," Dickey said.

With the change in attitude came evidence of the talent that Hewitt recruited him for, such as a 13-point, five-rebound, two-block performance against Virginia in ACC play as well as 15 points and six boards against Lafayette, a game Dickey recalls as his best moment this season.

"Coach Hewitt put me and Anthony [Morrow] in at the same time and we started our own little run. We were playing sluggish at first and then coach put us in and we started our own little run," Dickey said.

Looking to the future, with the graduation of Luke Schenscher after this season, Dickey seems slated to be the heir apparent to a starting role in the middle of the Jackets' attack.

Looking into the future, Dickey, a student in the College of Management, aspires to open his own business if he does not find a career in the NBA.