The Wisconsin Badgers are hiring Michigan State Spartans Director of Scouting Darius Hicks as their Director of Scouting and Player Personnel, according to 247Sports’s Matt Zenitz.
Hicks had been in his role at Michigan State for the past two years, quickly rising up the ranks after being a defensive analyst at the program in 2023. Prior to his time at Michigan State, Hicks spent a year as the assistant defensive backs and cornerbacks coach at Southeast Missouri State in 2022.
Prior to that, Hicks
was the defensive backs coach from 2019-21 at his alma mater, Morningside University, where he was an All-Great Plains Athletic Conference honoree as a senior in 2013.
The Badgers lost a key front office executive this offseason when Ethan Russo left to join Oklahoma State as their Executive Director of Player Personnel this offseason, reuniting with head coach Eric Morris. The two were together at North Texas, where Russo was the Director of Player Personnel in 2024 and Assistant Director of Player Personnel in 2023.
Russo had joined the Badgers as their Director of Player Personnel in 2025, helping replace Max Stienecker, who left for an executive role with the USC Trojans.
Now, Wisconsin is overseeing another major change in its personnel department, with Hicks joining the front office.
