Nickens might be the fastest player in the state with the ball in his hands, which is straight up scary considering he’s built like a prototypical Power 5 WR prospect (which turns out he is as an Oklahoma football commit). Along with the outrageous burst when racing down the court or attacking off the dribble, he’s an outrageous finisher at the rim with highlight reel dunks. His junior season was unfortunately delayed after he transferred schools, but his recent debut showed he’s still a “1 of 1” type pure athletic prospect. Now, he’ll have the Trojans to compete for their second straight Class 4A crown.

Nickens has already played a key role on back to back 3A State Championship teams for Millwood. He’s one of the most gifted athletes to come through Oklahoma in recent times, as Nickens is already committed to OU for football. On the basketball court, he’s an explosive finisher at the rim with ridiculous end to end speed. The junior can be streaky as an off the dribble shooter, but when he’s locked in from distance he’s nearly impossible to stop. Millwood remains a strong contender to win another in Class 3A and Nickens is a big reason why.

Nickens exploded on the scene as a freshman as one of the most gifted athletes to enter the Oklahoma high school ranks in recent years. The athleticism, especially end to end speed, are still at the forefront for his high ceiling. The success has happened in high school, as he’s been a key part of back to back State Championships for Millwood. This spring has seen an up and down session while playing nationally for Texas program Drive Nation. His jumper remains streaky and it feels like his basketball skill level hasn’t quite kept pace with elite natural traits.

Another question with the longterm projection of Nickens. Will he chose football or basketball? The same speed, explosiveness and intensity that makes him stand out on the hardwood have led to even more success as one of Oklahoma’s top football recruits. And in this state, football usually wins out over basketball. The football offers have rolled in but there’s still a path for the outstanding 405 prospect to excel in basketball as well.

Millwood standout Jaden Nickens Jaden Nickens 6'3" | CG Douglass | 2025 State OK finds himself in the same discussion as Nickson at Weatherford. Like Nickson, Nickens first emerged in Oklahoma as one of the top basketball prospects in the state. Before his freshman season began, he already had several D1 offers in basketball. However, nine months ago, Nickens joined the Millwood football team and in about six months, he became not only one of the top football prospects in the state, but he’s emerged as a true national prospect on the gridiron at wide receiver. But on the basketball court, Nickens is still one of the more dynamic athletes in the class. We’ve gotten a chance to see Nickens in person a few times over the last two months on the court. It’s hard not to be impressed with the raw athleticism that Nickens has. The Millwood standout is more than just an outstanding athlete and he’s showed that in plenty games this season. But right now, it’s hard to see him having a higher ceiling in basketball than football strictly as a prospect.

Castillo wasn’t the only top-ranked prospect in Saturday afternoon’s match-up. Millwood sophomore Jaden Nickens Jaden Nickens 6'3" | CG Douglass | 2025 State OK is the top-rated prospect in the state’s 2025 class and he got out to a quick start on Saturday. He would finish with a team-high 24 points and he got into double figures fairly early in the game. Nickens was the biggest benefactor from all of the Bartlesville turnovers in the first half. He would get out on the break quickly on a turnover and was able to throw down a few dunks in the first half to give the Falcons the lead and all the momentum they could handle. Nickens would have a quiet third quarter comparatively speaking but he would close out the game strong. As the Bruins would make their run in the fourth quarter, it was Nickens that routinely converted on the other end with buckets at the rim or knocking down shots at the charity stripe.

It was difficult to pick just one Falcon from the defending 3A champs for this team. In the end the pure talent and upside of yet another super sophomore gave Nickens the nod. One of the best pure athletes in the state, Nickens is a gifted scorer and overall gamechanger.

We already wrote quite a bit about Millwood standout Jaden Nickens Jaden Nickens 6'3" | CG Douglass | 2025 State OK with the breakout season he had as a freshman. He accepted his role with the Falcons last year and finished the year strong with a great performance in the state tournament and he was outstanding in the state championship game. Nickens is an outstanding basketball prospect and has basically held on to the number one spot in the Oklahoma rankings since they began. But Nickens is also starting to have a bright future on the gridiron as a football prospect. So it will be interesting to see how Nickens balances the two sports over the next two and a half years. We’ve been told by multiple coaches at Millwood that Nickens is determined to not only be the top basketball prospect in the state, he’s determined to be in the number one spot for both sports. This day and age, that’s pretty rare but Nickens appears to be on that path right now.