Former Pennsylvania star Tony Hicks will transfer to Louisville

It appears Rick Pitino is enjoying life with 5th year transfers so much that he intends to go down the same road in 2016-17.

Card Chronicle has learned that Tony Hicks, a 6'2 guard who was Pennsylvania's leading scorer in each of the past two seasons, plans to transfer to Louisville to play his final season of college basketball. Hicks will graduate from Penn in May and then enroll at U of L this summer, following the same path that Trey Lewis and Damion Lee took heading into this season.

A three-year starter with more than 1,000 collegiate points to his name, Hicks averaged double figures in each of his three seasons with the Quakers. He led the team in scoring in both 2013-14 and 2014-15, averaging 14.9 and 13.2 ppg, respectively.

Hicks sent waves throughout the Ivy League when he announced in October that he planned to sit out the 2015-16 season instead of playing for new head coach Steve Donahue.

"After speaking with Coach (Steve) Donahue about the best situation for Penn basketball and myself, I have decided the best decision for me will be to take a break from basketball," Hicks said in the release. "I plan to graduate from Penn in May, and then take my next step as a basketball player next year.

"This is a personal decision, and I wrestled long and hard with it because I have thoroughly enjoyed playing for Penn the last three years and wearing the Red and the Blue. I want to wish the guys on the team and the coaches all the best for this season and future seasons, and I will definitely be backing them in The Palestra during these next several months."

Here's Hicks in action against Cornell, hitting a game-winning floater with 4 seconds to play:

Hicks was a prep star in Chicago's Catholic League North, where he led St. Rita to a state championship and was named the Catholic League Player of the Year in 2012. From those days through his college career, Hicks has been labeled as an elite outside shooter with a quick first step.

We'll be talking with Hicks' high school coach and former DePaul assistant, Gary DeCesare, on tomorrow's Ramsey & Rutherford.