C.J. Hicks quickly established himself as something special at Archbishop Alter High School in Kettering, Ohio, He was a four-year starter at an excellent football program there, and his coaches could play him anywhere.
At times in high school, he was a running back, receiver, defensive back, and outside linebacker. He was rated a 5-star recruit and had his pick from nearly 30 scholarship offers. Those offers came from the biggies, too -- places like Penn State, Notre Dame, Iowa, Tennessee, and THE Ohio State University.
He is an Ohio guy, through and through, so it was natural when he signed with the Buckeyes.
The story takes a bit of a detour from there.
Everybody at Ohio State can play at a high level, and Hicks found himself stuck behind established starters on a national caliber team. He saw the field mostly on special teams, where he was a significant addition.
However, he wanted more than that, That explains why he was sitting in the interview room Wednesday afternon at USF, getting ready for the season as a key Transfer Portal pickup for the Bulls.
USF has signed Ohio State linebacker transfer C.J. Hicks, @chris_hummer and I have learned.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 5, 2026
Former top-10 overall recruit who posted 42 career tackles at Ohio State. Now in line to join Brian Hartline at USF. pic.twitter.com/TWyIXHd1dg
"We don't have starters right now, but he's done a tremendous job. And it's because he takes it day by day. He's not, hey, I'm Mr. Five Star and anything like that at all," USF defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge said. "He's going to play that outside linebacker for us. And I mean, sometimes those guys are too skinny or sometimes those guys are too heavy to be able to drop and do dynamic things.
"He's got it all, man. He can do it all. And we're going to have to move him around because he can do a lot of things. You know, I'll stay put, inside back or anything outside back. He's a really smart kid. I think he's just so dynamic. And when you have dynamic players, that's fun as a coordinator, because I can feel very strongly that we can adapt our scheme based on who we're playing."
Aldridge wasn't finished heaping praise on his linebacker.
"You know, I've coached that position more than any other position in my career and you know I had Jalen McLeod at Auburn," he said. "That was third-round pick and he's as good as that guy. I mean he's a really good player. I'm putting pressure on him."
Hicks entered his senior season at OSU in 2025 hoping for that final breakthrough, but realized after four games that it wasn't happening. So, at that point he decided to sit out the rest of the season to preserve a red-shirt season, and he entered the Transfer Portal when it opened.
That's about the time that Brian Hartline, who has known Hicks since his Alter High School days, announced he was leaving Ohio State to become USF's head coach. Hicks, meanwhile, was sifting through multiple offers and trying to figure out his future.
"When I first hit the portal, I wasn't even thinking about USF, but talking to Hartline, having him having me talk to Aldrich and the rest of the coaching staff, I just felt like it was a place where I needed to go," he said.
He will wear No. 1. That's perhaps an odd number for a linebacker, but Hicks said there's a logical reason for that decision.
"This is number I wore when I was little. And you know, I wear 1 because God is the one, you know, Jesus is the one. And day by day, I have to get 1 percent better," he said.
"Every day, day by day, you get 1 percent better than you did yesterday. You know, I kind of related that as far as like growing as a man, growing as a person, growing my relationship with God as well."
His coaches laud his work ethic on the field, film room, and weight room. They speak with appreciation about his leadership in the locker room.
And it's all building toward the goal of bringing USF it's first conference football title in program history.
"I feel like this team -- and that's what Coach Hartline is pushing -- is getting over the hump. You know, winning the first conference championship, taking game by game, doing our best to see if we can get in the CFP (College Football Playoff)," he said.
His final college season is about to start. Does he feel a special urgency about that?
"Yes, sir, for sure," he said. "But like I said, just be consistent, keep taking it day by day and continue to grow, learn as much as I can, and be the best teammate football player that I can be."
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