Gonzaga's R-Jay Barsh on Nolan Hickman being a coach on the sidelines: 'Nobody has higher expectations of him than himself'

As one of two returning starters from last season's Elite Eight team, Nolan Hickman faced pressure from outside the Gonzaga men's basketball program to exceed and surpass what he had achieved in his first year as the team's starting point guard.

Lofty expectations aren't new to Hickman, a former ESPN five-star recruit who had committed to Kentucky before flipping to Gonzaga at the last moment back in 2021. Since then the 6-foot-2 Seattle native has been expected to live up to the NBA upside many prognosticators forecasted when he came out of Wasatch Academy, which has produced numerous high-major college basketball and NBA talent in recent years.

After spending his freshman season behind Andrew Nembhard and through trial-and-error as a full-time starter last season, Hickman is having the best campaign of his collegiate career, averaging 14.3 points, 2.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 46.3% from the field and 41% from deep.

'Nolan Hickman’s ability to coach his teammates on the side, to help them learn from his previous mistakes, I think has really, really helped," Gonzaga assistant coach R-Jay Barsh said on Gonzaga Nation

"His attention to detail and his work ethic, like I told him, it’s going to pay off," said Barsh. "You may not see it right now but it’s going to pay off. We would always talk about, ‘just keep stacking the days.’ And you’ll look up and the good days will start running into each other.”

Barsh discussed Hickman's leadership and drive, as well as much more, on a new episode of Gonzaga Nation. Watch the full episode in the video above.

Produced by Thomas Gallagher.