Hamilton College's Peter Kazickas '15 (Amagansett, N.Y./St. Mark's School [Mass.]) is one of 201 men's and women's college basketball players across the U.S. who have been nominated for the 2014 Allstate Good Works Teams®.
2014 NABC and WBCA Allstate Good Works Teams nominees
The award, which is supported by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), recognizes a select group of college basketball student-athletes who have made significant contributions to the greater good of their communities through volunteerism and civic service.
In its second year, the Allstate NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams honor players at all levels of college basketball who represent the sport’s finest in the areas of leadership and charitable achievements amongst their peers. The student-athletes nominated for this prestigious award embody the true spirit of teamwork and giving back.
Kazickas worked with "Hoops 4 Hope" in Zimbabwe during the summers of 2011 and 2013 when he helped repair basketball facilities and the Hoops 4 Hope Center. He taught the children fundamental basketball skills and life skills such as HIV/AIDS awareness, the importance of education, how to avoid street life and drugs, being respectable and how to become positive contributors to society using lectures, songs and games. He has generated more than 200 basketballs for the program through clothing and shoe drives in the U.S.
Closer to campus, Kazickas has spent time at a local food bank, adopted a family for the holidays, assisted with a turkey drive and helped with blood drives. He has been an after-school tutor for children and taught English to adult refugees.
Kazickas has started all six games for the 4-2 Continentals this season. He is averaging 8.3 points per game and is shooting 57 percent from the field and 10-for-11 at the free-throw line.
The 2014 nominees uphold impressive service resumes detailing unique and inspiring stories of servitude. From the 117 NABC nominees and 84 WBCA nominees, special voting panels will select two 10-member teams comprised of five student-athletes from the NCAA Division I level and five student-athletes from NCAA Divisions II, III and the NAIA. The final roster of 20 award recipients will be unveiled in February.
Kazickas was featured in a Utica Observer-Dispatch article written by alumnus John Pitaressi '70 on Dec. 24.
