State's top-ranked football recruit picks Indiana: 'It just felt like home'
Polston and Hicks, both juniors, have been playing with and against each other going back to kindergarten in the Decatur Central youth program. In the championship game when they were in fourth grade, Polston's team played against Hicks' team.
'The score was like 56 to 55,' Polston said. 'It was me and him, just back and forth. But he ended up getting the ball last. So, he won. When he has the ball in his hands or he's guarding the best player, special things happen.'
That was true of Hicks in grade school, middle school and high school. IU believes it can be in college, too. The 6-foot, 180-pound speedster, ranked as the No. 1 player in the state in the 2026 class by On3sports, announced his commitment to Indiana on Friday, picking the Hoosiers over Cincinnati, Louisville, Missouri and Vanderbilt. In addition to those schools, Hicks also had offers from Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Stanford and Wisconsin and several Mid-American Conference programs.
'Home was just IU,' Hicks said. 'It was just different. It wasn't really because it was close, it was just from being around campus and being around the coaching staff. They were different from every other school. I definitely like coach Cig (Curt Cignetti) and what he has going. I went there and it felt different from everywhere else. I love (cornerbacks coach Rod Ojong) too. It just felt like home.'
Hicks was a major part of Decatur Central's run to its first state championship last year in Class 5A. He caught 54 passes for 877 yards and 13 touchdowns and ran for 479 yards and five touchdowns on offense. On defense, Hicks had 32 tackles, four interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one caused fumble. He also averaged 48.8 yards on eight kickoff returns for coach Kyle Enright's team.
Hicks likely projects as a cornerback in college, at least initially.
'I was talking to coach (Cignetti) and I don't really know everything yet but because I do play both ways (in high school), he was talking about potentially down the road I could start playing both ways,' Hicks said. 'But coming in that first year I'm going to stick at corner. I don't really care (about position). I just love football.'
Hicks, rated as a three-star prospect by On3 and 247Sports, is the fourth known high school commit in IU's 2026 recruiting class. Four-star athlete Henry Ohlinger of Columbus, Ohio, three-star offensive lineman Samuel Simpson of River Falls, Wisc., and three-star defensive lineman Rodney White of Towson, Md., are the others.
Hicks is the third Decatur Central player in the 2026 class to commit to a Division I college, joining quarterback Polston (Toledo) and athlete Fa'Rel Carter, who committed to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
The connection with Ojong, who coached All-American cornerback D'Angelo Ponds last season as IU made a run to the College Football Playoff, played a major role in Hicks' comfort level in Bloomington.
'The first time I talked to him about a year ago at a junior day and got coached up by him, it was good,' Hicks said. 'I was there a lot and every time I went there, it was home. And a big difference from the other schools was that I had great relationships with all the coaches. At one school, it was just a relationship with the position coach. With IU, I had relationships with all the coaches there on the defensive side mostly.'
Hicks said the timing of his decision was him 'trusting my gut.'
'Coaches told me to trust my gut and I'd know when I know,' he said.
There are bigger challenges ahead for Hicks and his teammates in coming months as Decatur Central makes the jump from Class 5A to 6A via the tournament success factor. But his college decision is now behind him.
'I was just ready,' Hicks said.
When Hicks is ready, things tend to happen.
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Having said all that, if we're thinking about breakout player in the more traditional sense, I don't think we're talking enough about Tyrique Tucker. He was overshadowed by players ahead of him (C.J. West, James Carpenter) last fall. But he's one of the highest-graded returning interior defensive linemen per PFF, and when he played last year he made a difference. The remodel of the defensive line has been so substantial by necessity I think people have forgotten about Tucker, and I suspect he'll be very important for IU this season. Niziolek: Yeah, it's on the defensive line. Kamara gives them serious returning production, but he can't do it alone. If no one steps up around him it's going to be easy for opposing teams to scheme up plans to slow him down. The chaos IU causes up front is also a foundational piece of Haines' scheme. He wants his guys living in the backfield and presents a variety of fronts to keep opposing quarterbacks on their toes. Haines had four veteran starters last season and two of those (Kamara and Carpenter) had been with him for years. Tucker's experience backing up Carpenter is invaluable, but I'd say at least two of the defensive linemen that Zach mentioned really need to be consistent contributors. I also wouldn't look past Mario Landino, a true sophomore who the coaching staff has been really high on since he got on campus last year. He was the first name Kamara mentioned when I asked him about a potential breakout player for 2025 on defense. A 'freak,' a transfer and a bunch more: Who are Indiana football breakout players for 2025? Ferguson: One of the interesting things about IU's returners is the core three of Kamara, Fisher and Ponds returning. Obviously it's a benefit to have one at each position group, but is it more so than, say, returning an entire D-line? What does IU gain from having one great player at each level returning, and what is the greatest strength? Niziolek: Stability and leadership. Haines and his defensive assistants have veteran guys that can help teach their system. Zach mentioned Hardy, and he's a perfect example of a guy that's flourished thanks in part to having Fisher and former IU linebacker Jailin Walker mentor him. He started asking them questions about the playbook the moment he got to Bloomington and they set up him up for success. Kamara and Ponds (along with veteran safety Amare Ferrell) are doing the same thing in their position rooms. Osterman: I also think it's basic but helpful for Haines and his defensive staff to have knowns at every level. If you have to work through your tackle rotation, or ease in 'backers who will need more experience, or decide who your second and third corners are, there's assurance in the foundation players like Kamara, Fisher, Ponds and Ferrell provide. In their playmaking, yes, but also in the sense that you have proven cornerstones across the breadth of your defense you can rely on, while you spend the early part of the season sorting through the question marks. How many Big Ten defenses have all-conference caliber players at every level before a ball is snapped? That's a measure of security that allows Haines and staff to take some calculated risks or absorb growing pains elsewhere. Ferguson: Indiana's defense was second nationally and sixth in scoring last year despite losses to Notre Dame and Ohio State. What needs to happen for the Hoosiers to challenge their numbers from last year, considering challenging games at Oregon and at Penn State this season? Osterman: Yeah, it's definitely possible this group is as good (or maybe even a touch better) defensively, with worse numbers, simply because of the schedule. I think the key for Indiana will be the staples of Haines' defenses throughout his time with Cignetti: havoc plays. Sacks, TFLs, turnovers. Anything that moves an offense backward. Some of Indiana's per-game numbers were probably inflated (deflated?) by their schedule last season, but the disruptive metrics have consistently been a feature of Haines' units. As long as that stays, IU should be fine. Niziolek: Indiana's turnover margin is worth mentioning here as well. The Hoosiers were plus-15 last year (ranked No. 5 in the country) and forced 24 turnovers (tied for 17th in the FBS). They were 6-0 whenever they forced multiple turnovers. The pressure they put on opposing quarterbacks contributed to some of those, but IU's secondary made plenty of plays too with Ferrell and Ponds combining for seven interceptions. Indiana has to be opportunistic again if they want to match the kind of overall success they had last season. Ferguson: We've talked plenty about the strengths here. What areas of concern need to be addressed with fall camp? Osterman: It's simplistic, but can the staff get evaluations correct again? The James Madison-to-IU transfer narrative probably got a little overplayed last season, but it was more valid on defense than on offense. If you'd made a list of Indiana's most important players defensively in 2024, I would argue five of the top eight were James Madison transfers, and two of the remaining three the staff would have known well from their time at Old Dominion (same conference as JMU). The evaluations of these replacements are going to be in depth just by the nature of Cignetti's scouting and film study. But getting it so right again in terms of fit and chemistry, when you have fewer of those players Mike talked about that can act as leaders via their knowledge of the system, does leave some vulnerability. I am curious to see how different some of the peripheral holdovers outside the former JMU contingent look. If the likes of Hardy, Isaiah "Bones" Jones and Landino show real improvement, I think that's encouraging for the future and not just 2025. Niziolek: Indiana still has to figure out what much of the two-deep looks like on the defensive line and secondary. The Hoosiers have veterans they are building around at both spots, but they have plenty of question marks to sort through. Can spring transfers Daley and Wyatt hit the ground running at defensive end? Do they rely on a safety or corner to play rover? Are promising young defensive linemen like Landino and Daniel Ndukwe ready for larger roles? Those are all things that will play out in fall camp.
