Bickerstaff (3) winning his fourth national championship with Ball So Hard

Bickerstaff rounds out this year’s list of nominees. He picks up the nomination in his first year of eligibility, as he surpassed 200 career games at the start of 2019.

Bickerstaff winning his first national championship with Ball So Hard in 2015

There are a few different reasons why Bickerstaff is nominated for the Class of 2019, but the main reason is the way he changed the landscape of the Las Vegas National Tournament. In 2015, he and co-captain Terrell Suggs brought Ball So Hard out to Vegas for the first time. They would end up losing two out of their first three games, which barely got them into Championship Sunday. They haven’t looked back from that point, winning 21 straight games and four championships after a 48-47 loss to Bulls in pool play. They don’t just win games, they dominate the competition. Over the course of the 21-game win streak, Ball So Hard have beaten their opponents by an average of 20.8 points per game.

While Bickerstaff has often been a bench player that lets his teammates take care of business, he took on a more prominent role in the run to a fourth straight title last year. He averaged 9.7 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 53 percent shooting from deep.

His presence at the national level is what most recognize him for, but he is one of the marquee faces of UH Arizona as well. His national championships account for only four of his 14 championships overall. He has won 10 championships across Arizona over the course of the last four years. He’s won championships at the Tempe, Gilbert and Scottsdale locations, winning open, draft and vet titles along the way. Simply put: If there is a trophy in Arizona to win, Bickerstaff has already won it.

Arguably his most impressive feat came last year, when he and Christian Bower became the first players in UH Arizona history to win back-to-back Arizona State Draft Tournaments, which they did in the summer and fall seasons. Both of those titles came in tournaments with 29 teams. If you combine both seasons, Bickerstaff averaged 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from deep.

Bickerstaff joins Brandon Walker as the two nominees in this class to represent UH Arizona. Will this be the year that gets the region its first inductee?

2019 HALL OF FAME NOMINEE: Adam Bickerstaff