SALT LAKE CITY — Nolan Hickman could have given up or moved on or looked for a change of scenery, as the saying sometimes goes in the modern college basketball environment where hundreds of transfer portal announcements flood college basketball every year.

But after back-to-back seasons averaging 8 points or fewer per game, the Gonzaga guard never even dreamed of going anywhere else.

He's glad he didn't.

The junior from Seattle who prepped at Sanpete County's Wasatch Academy has become a vital starter in Mark Few's rotation, averaging 13.8 points, 2.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game and helping the Zags pull away from Kansas 89-68 to earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the ninth consecutive season.

"Honestly, I'm just loyal. I feel like when I'm committed to a team, that's who got me," Hickman told KSL.com after scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three 3-pointers against the Jayhawks. "I've been the same way since I was kid. I played with Seattle Rotary since I was in third grade and it's always been one team for me.

"In high school, the only reason why I had to leave was because of COVID in Seattle and go to Wasatch. If it wasn't for that, there's a good chance I'd be a (Eastside Catholic) Crusader. When I go somewhere, I build such a connection with everybody around me and I feel like me leaving would be a disgrace towards them."

Loyalty and an ability to stick it out. That describes Hickman both at Gonzaga and also the 6-foot-2 guard who became the first McDonald's All-American in Wasatch Academy history a few years ago en route to Gatorade Utah player of the year honors.

Wasatch coach Paul Peterson admits that Hickman "never would've come to us" were it not for the pandemic, but that his loyalty played a role in staying in Mount Pleasant before returning home to college, despite bouts of homesickness.

"He stuck with us even through hard times," said Peterson, crediting the youngster's parents. "In this day and age, everybody wants everything so fast. But it takes time for the crop to grow; now it's harvest season.

"It's too easy to get what you want when you want, instead of waiting your time and taking advantage of your time," he added. "He's taking advantage of his time."

Hickman had two 3-pointers during the Zags 18-2 run to open the second half, turning 47-43 deficit into a 66-51 advantage on Anton Watson's triple with 13:22 remaining.

Gonzaga didn't miss a shot until Ike's jumper fell off the rim at the 14:53 mark of the second half. But it didn't matter; the Zags shot 11-of-12 from the field by the midway point of the half, including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range, during an eye-popping 26-4 run capped by Stromer's triple with 9:27 showing.

Gonzaga made 16-of-24 field goals in the second half, while holding the Jayhawks to 10-of-36 from the field including just 2-of-11 from 3-point range.

The run lifted Few to his 13th Sweet 16 appearance overall, a streak that also includes five Elite Eight matchups, two Final Four dates, and the program's first national championship appearance in 2017. Who wouldn't want to play for him?

"He's the GOAT. That's a nondiscussion," he said. "But yeah, man, we know our legacy. We know the history of the Zags and try to come out every game and represent the history behind it."

Hickman's first two seasons in Spokane were hardly easy. He averaged 17.2 minutes per game as a freshman, but was mostly a defensive substitution while averaging 5.1 points on 44% shooting, including just 30.8% from the perimeter.

Hickman wasn't the only player with Utah ties drawn into the Salt Lake regional. But the Seattle native who prepped at Eastside Catholic in Sammamish, Washington, before the COVID-19 pandemic sent him to boarding school in Mount Pleasant returned to the Pacific Northwest as a Gonzaga freshman.

The former five-star recruit by ESPN improved as a sophomore, starting 36 games for the Zags and improving his scoring to 7.7 points and 3.1 assists per game, a total of 116 dimes that ranked seventh-most in the WCC.

Yet the breakthrough finally game this past season, when Few added Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard and former Wyoming wing Graham Ike to the roster. That moved Hickman from running the point, and unleashed his offensive game.

"I understood that with Ryan coming in, I'd have to play a little more off the ball. I accepted that role, and worked on it, practiced it, catch-and-shoots; whatever it takes. I worked on it all offseason just for times when I needed to show up in big games — and I think I did, just because I worked on it in the offseason."

Loyalty has been paid back to to Hickman, as well — including by Wasatch Academy coach Paul Peterson and a band of traveling Tigers fans that sat across from Gonzaga's bench among the announced crowd of 17,414 fans that braved Delta Center traffic for the final day of the tournament's Salt Lake City regional.

"That's love," Hickman said after looking as comfortable as a hometown product in the Utah Jazz's home arena. "It's always a blessing to see my family in the stands. I make sure I look up and make sure they're there before the games and everything.

"But seeing my ex-coaches up there, my former coaches, it's always dope seeing them come back and show love," he added. "They got their kids here and everything too, man. It's a blessing, man."

The fifth-seeded Zags will face top-seeded Purdue in the Sweet 16.

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he NCAA Tournament continues on Saturday at the Delta Center with two second-round games.

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