Earlier this week, SMU quarterback Ben Hicks informed head coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee that he'll be transferring and looking for a new home as a graduate transfer. The program's starter for the past three seasons said it was a positive conversation and he's looking forward to his future after a tough decision.

"Looking for a new opportunity, new growth. Just a chance to really start fresh in my last year and move forward with the rest of my life, whether that be football or whether that be finding out where I'm at," Hicks told Pony Stampede on Tuesday. "The decision was obviously very difficult because I've been extremely fortunate to play a lot of football here and meet great friends. I've always had a great support staff so the decision was very difficult. You got to make some tough decisions sometimes and this was one I felt like I needed to make."

The Waco (Tex.) Midway product departs the Hilltop as the program's all-time leading in passing yards, total offense, passing touchdowns, career touchdowns responsible for and completions.

All that is great, but Hicks wants to be remembered as someone that played hard, loved the game and loved his teammates.

"The numbers are awesome and all that. I just want to be remembered as a guy that played really really hard, loved the game and was tough and played really hard for his teammates," Hicks explained. "I just want people to know how appreciative I am of SMU and all the guys I've played with over the years, all the coaches. How appreciative I am of them helping me out over the years.

"Like I said, I've been very fortunate to play a lot of football, meet a lot of great people, always had a great support staff and great teammates I've cared about. I want that to be known to the SMU fans, community and everybody that I've met at SMU."

From coming in for Matt Davis against North Texas when he went down with a season-ending injury as a redshirt freshman to his final snaps, Hicks said he feels like overall, the team played good football and put SMU back on the map the last three years.

"As interesting as it was and as difficult as it was sometimes, I got to play a ton of football. We couldn't always find a way to finish it, but we played good football for the three years I was here, I felt like," Hicks said. "Kind of put SMU back on the map. I feel like my recruiting class, we were able to bring SMU back to being relevant and being talked about. Something I'm proud of and very grateful for the guys I came in with and the guys who that were already here when I got here and the guys that have continued to come in, fighting through some of the adversity that we've gone through over the last three years. It was a great run."

With Trey Quinn, James Proche and Courtland Sutton at receiver, along with a strong running game, Hicks had his best season in 2017, throwing for 3,569 yards, 33 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

"It was an unbelievable year. We had a lot of fun offensively, had a good team, had a good culture, had a good camaraderie with that team. I feel like everybody was real close with that team," Hicks said. "Had a lot of fun doing it, playing with those guys and Court and Trey in their last year. It was good to see SMU have success again. It was good to come into the locker room when we won and see the smiles on our seniors' faces."

While the 5-7 2018 campaign didn't go necessarily as planned, he was proud of the team that banded together after an 0-3 start to get into contention for an AAC West division championship.

"I'm real proud of what I was able to do this year and what we were able to do as a team this year. Starting off 0-3 and finding a way to dig ourselves out of a hole. I think that speaks volumes to the guys in the locker room and the coaches that are here now, fighting through that and fighting to get ourselves back in contention for the conference. We obviously came up short, but I'm real proud of what the team has done this year and what the future looks like for SMU."

Hicks is evaluating his options on the NCAA transfer portal and has one season of eligibility remaining. Hicks threw for 9,081 yards, 71 touchdowns and 34 interceptions with a 56.7 percent completion percentage in his SMU career after signing with the 2015 recruiting class.