“Without coaches like Eddie Hickey, we would not have the basketball tradition we have today.”

That is how Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen describes his feeling of coach Hickey’s induction into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame.

Hickey, who passed away in 1980, coached the Jays for 12 seasons from 1935 to 1947. After that, he went on to coach both St. Louis University and Marquette University. He took all three teams to the NCAA Tournament, the only coach to have accomplished this feat.

Known as the “Little General,” Hickey is second all-time in conference wins with 163, trailing only Henry Iba of Oklahoma State by 24 games. He also ranks second all time in career wins with 337, again trailing only Iba.

The Little General was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.

The native of Reynolds, Neb., had a 126-71 record at Creighton, going 73-35 in Valley play. In his 12 seasons, he guided the Jays to four MVC regular-season titles, a 1941 NCAA Tournament appearance, as well as National Invitation Tournament trips in 1942 and 1943.

Current Creighton head coach, Dana Altman, who is third all-time in both conference and all time wins, thinks Hickey’s success was good for more than just Creighton.

“He meant a lot to not only Creighton, but SLU and Marquette,” Altman said. “He was simply a great coach and it was just a matter of time before he got into the Hall.”

Hickey went on to win 211 games in his 11 seasons at SLU, winning three MVC titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and a championship trophy in the 1948 NIT tournament. He was named MVC Coach of the Year in 1952 and 1957.

“We are only the program we are today because we can stand on the shoulders of giants like coach Hickey,” Rasmussen said.

Hickey will be inducted on March 6, along with basketball player Junior Bridgeman of Louisville, track and field coach John Coughlan of Illinois State, women’s basketball player Lorri Bauman of Drake, basketball coach John Wooden of Indiana State and late coach/athletics director John L. Griffith of Drake.