Kansas volleyball lands commitment from Lawrence Free State’s Rachel Hickman

Lawrence Free State High sophomore Rachel Hickman has orally committed to play volleyball at Kansas.

Hickman, who competes at right-side hitter for the Firebirds as well as Adidas Dynasty Volleyball Club of Kansas City, chose Kansas over Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas State and Creighton. She heard from over 100 schools.

Rachel’s sister, Naomi, a senior at Free State, will play volleyball at Creighton.

“She is not even scratching the surface of how great she’ll be,” Dynasty Volleyball Club director Bryon Larson said of the 6-foot-3 Rachel Hickman. “She is one of the best prospects in the country. Nebraska was in on her. They won the national championship last year.

“She wants to play at the highest level,” Larson added. “KU said, ‘We’ll train you to be the best player you can be.’”

Rachel’s dad, Ryan Hickman, said: “She had interest from all over the country. She didn’t want to go outside a four or five-hour window. She loves the coaching staff at KU. From the first time she met with them, she said, ‘I love them.’ She could see herself there from early-on in the process. She loves Lawrence, too.

“Obviously the program is doing well,” Ryan Hickman added of KU. “It’s fun to see. She wants to continue being part of that tradition. She really believes if we keep our best players home there’s a lot of great volleyball in the Heart of America region. No reason we can’t compete for national titles.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Kansas volleyball lands commitment from Lawrence Free State’s Rachel Hickman."