Varnado High School’s Adrian Bickham

Varnado senior Adrian Bickham is a three-sport athlete, competing in football, basketball and track/field. Bickham plays defensive end and outside linebacker and tight end in football. Last year, Bickham was a first-team all-district player at defensive end.
He plays mostly center, but can also play small forward and power forward in basketball. For track/field, Bickham runs the 110-meter hurdles, the 300 hurdles and he throws the discus.
“Adrian is a very versatile player for us,” Varnado football coach Anthony Hicks said. “He’s been playing the majority on the defensive side of the ball his whole career. This year, we need him to play on both sides of the ball. He’s definitely one of the most of the most valuable players on our team and he going to mean a lot to us, helping the team to put the team first and let everything else go from there.”

What do you enjoy most about playing your sports? Why?
It’s the physicality. I love being physical. I love running. I love competing. I don’t like losing. That’s really it. I like a team sport that can just come together, act as one and go out on the field and compete and play other good schools and have fun. That’s the most important is to have fun while you’re doing it.

What do you like best about being a student athlete?
Football. The classroom, I mean, I’m not the smartest, but the classroom kind of comes easy. The hard part is football — all of the weightlifting, the running, the conditioning. That’s really the hard part, but that’s what I play it for.

Who has been the most influential person in your school sports career? Why?
My dad (Terrance Robinson) and (Varnado assistant) coach (Aaron) Luper. Coach Luper, I think he’s one of the best coaches we’ve ever had here. He’s helped me a lot throughout my recruiting, and just playing, giving me tips that I know I’m going to need to go to the next level. My dad because he played high school football (at Varnado) and he knows a lot and he tells me and he’s not going to lie to me. That’s what I love.
Luper is Bickham’s position coach.

Who is your favorite athlete? Why?
(New York Giants wide receiver) Odell Beckham. I’m not a wide receiver, but just the historic and the way he came up, now, he’s the highest paid wide receiver ever in football and he’s from Louisiana. All athletes from Louisiana, I love them.

Favorite team?
Varnado Wildcats.

Best thing about living in Washington Parish?
You know everybody. We might be spread out, we’ve got our rivals, Bogalusa, Pine, Franklinton, but at the end of the day, we’re all together and we’re all a nice country parish and we’re just together. It’s not like you go to a big city down in New Orleans, you barely see the same person twice. Down here, you know everybody and everybody knows you and as far as the athletes, we all know each other, we all root for each other because we’re all coming out of the same thing.