JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State head basketball coach James Green has rounded out his staff for the 2011-12 season with the hiring of Alabama Southern Community College Head Coach and Athletic Director Ben Hicks as an assistant on the Gamecocks staff.

Hicks joins Green's staff at JSU after a four-year stint at ASCC in Monroeville, Ala., where he led the Eagles to three-straight Alabama Community College Conference South Division crowns. With stops at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Middle Georgia College, the two-time ACCC Coach of the Year brings a decade of collegiate coaching experience to JSU.

“Ben will add a tremendous amount to our basketball staff,” Green said. “He has achieved a great deal of success and built a very good program at Alabama Southern. His experience at the Junior College level will help us both on the recruiting trail and on the floor. I couldn't be more excited to have Ben join the Jacksonville State basketball family.”

“I'm extremely excited about joining the Jacksonville State family,” Hicks said. “Coaching at the Division 1 level has always been one of my goals and I'm very thankful Coach Green has given me this opportunity. I look forward to contributing in every aspect of the program, including competing for an OVC championship, but more importantly developing our players into student-athletes. Also, Jacksonville State is where my late friend and mentor Coach Bruce Stewart played, which makes this opportunity very special.”

In his four seasons at the helm of the Eagles, Hicks posted a combined record of 88-37 and went an impressive 52-12 in conference play. He also coached nine All-ACCC players in that stint, including a pair of ACCC/Region Players of the Year in Jayson Guerrier and Rico Sanders.

A native of Phenix City, Ala., he took over a program at ASCC that had gone 11-17 the year before and quickly turned the corner. His first squad posted a 15-15 record but went 10-6 in league play to set the precedent for what was to come over the next three seasons.

Those three years saw ASCC post a combined record of 73-22 and a dominant 42-6 record in ACCC play. In 2010-11, hicks' Eagles went 23-9 and put together a 14-2 mark in conference play en route to the ACCC's Southern Division title, their third in as many years. They led the ACCC in scoring with 79.4 points per game and field goal percentage with a .538 clip. The ASCC defense was also one of he league's best, holding foes to a league-best .411 shooting percentage.

In 2009-10, Hicks earned ACCC Coach of the Year accolades and received the Birmingham Tip Off Club's Glen Clem/Junior College Coach of the Year Award after guiding the Eagles to a 27-5 record and a 15-1 mark in league play. They were ranked 19th nationally and won their second-straight ACCC Southern Division crown.

His first ACCC Coach of the Year honor and ASCC's first Division title came the year before in 2008-09, when Hicks' Eagles posted a 23-8 overall record and a 13-3 league mark, one year after a 15-15 record in his debut season.

Before arriving at Alabama Southern Community College, Hicks served as assistant coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City, Ala., for head coach Richard Mahone from 2005-07. In addition to his recruiting efforts, Hicks played an instrumental role in the team's overall academic development and skill improvement which included: scouting, marketing, and public relations for the CVCC Pirates basketball program. During his two seasons at CVCC, the Pirates played in consecutive state championship games and placed second both years.

Prior to arriving at CVCC, Hicks spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Middle Georgia College in Cochran, Ga., before being named interim head coach for the 2004-05 season.

A native of Phenix City, Ala., Hicks is a 1997 graduate of Russell County High School. He went on to play basketball at Bevill State Community College in Jasper, Ala., and then wrapped up his career at Shorter College in Rome, Ga. He graduated from Shorter in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in liberal Arts and then went on to get his master's in sport and fitness management from Troy University in 2007.