New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘Stomach to produce’
UConn counting on Hawkins to step up this season
NEW YORK — Jordan Hawkins has silky smooth skills and, therefore, grand plans for his basketball future. But to become a player recognized nationally and remembered fondly in Storrs, Hawkins will need to produce under the bright Big East lights the way he does behind the closed practice doors of the Werth Champions Center.
“He believes he’s the next great UConn wing player,” coach Dan Hurley said during Big East media day last week at Madison
Square Garden. “He believes that in his heart. There have been very few players that have put the uniform on at UConn that shoot the ball as beautifully as he does. He’s got to translate that to game night. Because all of us have to demonstrate that we have the stomach to produce.”
Hawkins proved that he does early last year as a freshman, scoring a season-high 16 points in 15 minutes, and making 5 of 7 shots, in the Huskies’ doubleovertime victory over Auburn at the Battle 4 Atlantis. He was largely inconsistent throughout conference play, though, occasionally rising up to show flashes of his potential — scoring 15 points in a blowout victory over Georgetown, for instance — but never sustaining such production.
Hawkins appeared in 27 games, averaging 5.8 points, two rebounds and 14.7 minutes. He shot just 35.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on 3-pointers. His breakthrough performance, 15 points against Georgetown in late January, was followed by consecutive scoreless efforts against DePaul and
Creighton. Over the next two games, against Villanova and Marquette, he combined for 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting. But he made just one field goal in each of the next four games, shooting a combined 4-for-21.
With R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin carrying much of the perimeter burden, there hereand-there and up-and-down version of Hawkins wasn’t so damaging to the Huskies, who finished the regular season 22-8. The team could have used another perimeter option in losses to
Villanova (Big East Tournament semifinal) and New Mexico State (NCAA first round) to close the season. Hawkins missed UConn’s final four games with a concussion.
“Definitely frustrating,” said Hawkins, named to the Big East All-Freshman team. “But I learned a lot from it. It was a bad experience, but I learned a lot about basketball, how to look at things differently.”
As a sophomore this season, Hawkins will be much more a focal point of the offense. While UConn is deep and experienced even with so many new players, many of them transfers and perimeter players, Hawkins has an opportunity to start making a name for himself.
“I have to step up,” he said.
Will he?
“I’ve seen his game improve every day, honestly,” junior guard/forward Andre Jackson said. “Jordan is a hard worker. He’s in the gym every day, working on his game. He’s going to continue to grow and get better. I really love to guard him because it reminds me of when I used to play against [James] Bouknight, such a good scorer, shooter. So it definitely challenges me. Battling against each other in practice every day is definitely going to help both of us. I’ve seen him grow a lot over the last year. Last year, I wish he could have helped us finish out there year. I think he would have made a big impact.”
Now Hawkins, 6 feet 5, has nearly 30 games and 100-plus practices under his belt. He was listed at 170 pounds when he committed to UConn out of DeMatha Catholic in Maryland, and he’s up to 195. He said he learned a lot about college basketball and life last season, a valuable experience, and his biggest takeaway from 2021-22 is “showing I belonged, showing I can play here.”
Like most freshman will, he showed that sporadically. Now he needs to match production to opportunity, which will increase. UConn’s hope is that Jackson and Hawkins perform at an all-conference level, lending stability to a backcourt rotation that will include Tristen Newton, Hassan Diarra, Nyhiem Alleyne and Joey Calcaterra.
“He’s stronger, physically, and he knows he did it in big spots last year,” Hurley said. “He knows he played very well for us in Atlantis, probably the highest level game we played last year against, maybe, the most talented opponent. He was one of the best players on the court. And he knows the last two thirds of the
Big East season, he was a guy that was really reliable and was an integral part of our team.”