Lynn Hickey (2023) - Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame - Texas A&M Athletics

Lynn Hickey

Induction:
2023

Lynn Hickey served Texas A&M for 15 years (1984-99) as both the head coach for the women's basketball team and the senior women's administrator and senior associate athletics director. She was hired in 1984 by former athletics director and Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow.

As the leader of the Aggie women's basketball program from 1984-1994, Hickey amassed over 150 wins and coached Texas A&M hall of famers Lisa Branch and Dr. Lisa Langston. In her final season as head coach, before transitioning to a full-time administrator, she led A&M to a 23-8 record and its first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. During the 1994 NCAA tourney, Hickey and the Aggies became the lowest seed to ever reach the Sweet 16, defeating Florida and San Diego State as the No. 13 seed. The Maroon & White to this day still shares that distinction with Liberty (2005) and Marist (2007) as the lowest seed to advance to the third round at NCAAs.

As an administrator, Hickey was a trailblazer at Texas A&M for women's athletics. She oversaw all women's sports programs and played a pivotal role in the transition of Aggie soccer becoming an NCAA DI sport in 1993. She was instrumental with the construction of the softball team's own stadium 1994 and spearheaded the school's name change from Lady Aggies to Aggies for all women's sports.

Hickey's influence can still be seen at A&M events to this day, as she helped initiate the formation of the Aggie Dance Team and Hullabaloo Band. Additionally, she brought equestrian and archery to Aggieland, ensuring new and diverse opportunities for future student-athletes at A&M.

Hickey has gone on to an impressive career as an athletics director, leading the UTSA athletics department from 1999-2017 and most recently as the director of athletics at Eastern Washington (2018-23). At UTSA, Hickey was the only female Division I athletics director that oversaw both men's and women's sports in the state of Texas and initiated the formation of women's golf, women's soccer and football.

In 2007, Hickey was named to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee, one of the most prestigious appointments in all of collegiate athletics. The 10-member committee oversees administration of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, including the selection and seeding of teams for the tournament. Hickey, whose five-year term expired in 2012, became just the second female ever selected to the committee, joining Charlotte Athletics Director Judy Rose, who served from 1999-2003.

Hickey has been honored nationally and locally for her work in collegiate athletics. She was named the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators 2005 Division I-AAA Administrator of the Year. Hickey earned her second national award in June 2006 as the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics/GeneralSports TURF Systems Division I-AAA West Region AD of the Year. The San Antonio Express-News tabbed her as its 2010 Sportswoman of the Year and she also was selected to and completed the Masters Leadership Program of San Antonio and Bexar County. In September 2011, she received the ATHENA Leadership from the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. In 2020, she was inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame.