Versatile Hawkins has a shot

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Balancing multiple commitments and interests is an act Justin Hawkins learns more about each day. Off the basketball court, the UNLV freshman is plenty versatile.

He writes poetry. He cooks and does laundry. He plans to declare a double major in business management and hotel administration.

"I’m serious about school. It runs in my family," said Hawkins, whose parents are lawyers.

As a player, the 6-foot-3-inch guard is working equally as hard on becoming a multidimensional talent. That was evident in July and August, when he put up 500 to 1,000 jump shots daily to prove he’s not solely a defensive specialist.

"I spent countless hours in the gym working on pull-up jumpers and knocking down the outside 3-pointer," he said. "I was there before class, after class and after lifting weights, in the gym just shooting.

"The minimum was 500 shots. The only day I took off was Sundays. The coaches recruited me for defense, but they said I’ve got to improve my offense."

Rebels coach Lon Kruger has signed higher profile recruits than Hawkins, who was not a big-time scorer at Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft High School. Kruger, however, has nothing but high praise for Hawkins and his variety of skills.

A strong defender, Hawkins has been stroking jumpers in practices to show a hint of his scoring potential.

"He probably didn’t look to score as much with his high school team as he could have, and I think because of that people probably think he’s a defensive guy," Kruger said. "He’s very good defensively, but I think he’s also very capable offensively.

"Justin is just a really good player, to start with. He does all the little things. He’s a great teammate. He cares about nothing except his team winning."

Hawkins stuffed stat sheets as a prep senior by averaging 15.0 points and about seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks per game.

Playing time will be more difficult for him to find this season in UNLV’s backcourt led by juniors Derrick Jasper, Tre’Von Willis and Kendall Wallace, sophomore Oscar Bellfield and senior Steve Jones. But Hawkins is eager to try to earn his minutes.

"If there was no competition, we would be mediocre, and we’re trying to go for great things," he said. "I wouldn’t allow myself to sit down and just watch.

"I feel I’m playing real well right now. All the coaches are giving me positive feedback. The players are giving me positive feedback as well, saying what I’m doing well and what I’m doing wrong."

Hawkins’ talent for writing, which he picked up in seventh grade, gets positive reviews from his mother, Carmen.

"I was just writing stuff down, kind of like a journal. I didn’t think of it as poetry when I was in high school," Hawkins said. "But my mom and my brother started reading some of my work and they said, after you get the melody and the words and the rhythm, it’s actually poetry."

Kruger said he’s not penciling in Hawkins, guard Anthony Marshall from Mojave High or 6-11 forward Carlos Lopez from Findlay Prep as redshirt candidates on a deep roster.

"We haven’t talked about it at this point," Kruger said. "Based on what we’ve seen, they’re very mature freshmen, physically and emotionally as players they very much understand what’s going on."

Hawkins and Marshall are roommates in a campus dorm, sticking together and learning the time management requirements of college.

"It’s easier with (Marshall) being here. We lean on each other for support," Hawkins said. "We’re always around each other, all day every day and even on the weekends.

"You don’t have your parents there in your ear saying, ‘You’ve got to go to this right now.’ I’m doing everything on my own. My mom told me it’s going to be all on me when I get to college. There’s not going to be anyone here to baby me around anymore. You’ve got to grow up fast."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.