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We had a chance to catch up with UNLV 2009 basketball commit Justin Hawkins just moments before the 2008 FirstLook event got going Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. The 6-foot-2 guard from Taft High in Woodland Hills, Calif., flew out earlier in the day with his mother and brother and is here until Sunday morning. Here's what he had to say ...
Ryan Greene: You come out here, already committed, what's on your list of things to do this weekend?
Justin Hawkins: List of things? I wanted to practice with the team, but that's against the rules, so I pretty much just watch and do wahtever they do. A day in the life of a UNLV basketball player. I've just gotta like watch them right now, take it all in. Me and my boy Anthony (Marshall), we've been walking around, we were in the gym about 7:30, 7:45, just sitting down, just thinking about how crazy it's gonna be with all these people just filing in, screaming names, chanting out 'U-N-L-V', wanting them to win another title. It's just crazy.
RG: So this basically just confirms that you made the right choice?
JH: Oh, exactly. Just flying in, I was like, I'm flying from L.A. to Vegas, and it wasn't like I was going out of town. It feels like a second home. It just feels so natural.
RG: They say that this is something that's a staple of a big-time program. In your eyes, what is having an event like this say for a program?
JH: You can have an event like this with nobody coming out, but you can just see with all these people coming in, they're anxious. There's a buzz in the air. I want to see what we're working with this year. I want to see if we're going to go undefeated in the league, win another title and go deep into the tournament. You can just tell the people are waiting for it, the players are waiting for it, the coaches are anxious. It's just crazy. I just want to play!
RG: How hard is it going to be to leave Las Vegas this weekend?
JH: Oh, it's going to be hard, but I know it's going to be better for me. When I get back to town and just share my experiences with my team, and share where my college is going, I've just got to bring that experience back to my team since we're so young.
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