Hawkins wrapping up memorable senior season at Taft

By Ryan Greene (contact)

Monday, May 18, 2009 | 3:04 p.m.

Rivals.com

UNLV signee Justin Hawkins from Woodland Hills Taft (Calif.) High

If Justin Hawkins has proven anything during his senior year at Woodland Hills Taft High in suburban Los Angeles, it's that he has a magic touch of sorts.

Last summer, while taking part in the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas with the Compton Magic, he mentioned how his senior season with the Toreadors would be more than a small challenge, given a roster rife with inexperience.

Instead, the 6-foot-3 UNLV signee helped the program to a 27-5 record and an unexpected berth in the CIF Division I semifinals.

"Me and my coach were talking about that the other day -- we exceeded our expectations by a lot," Hawkins said. "We knew we could be good, but what we did, potential-wise, for all our young guys was great. If you think about it, our three main scorers were the three seniors on the team from last year, and everybody else was a first-time varsity player."

Unlike most D-I hoops prospects, though, he's getting a second shot at a state title in the spring.

After ultimately convincing his mother to allow him to join the school's boys' volleyball squad at the end of the regular season, he's provided a shot in the arm to his peers, who at 15-8-2 face powerhouse Sylmar on Tuesday night in the CIF L.A. City Section semis.

"They had my support and I told them the story on why I couldn't play and they welcomed me with open arms," he said. "(My mom) didn't want me to get hurt so I wouldn't start behind everyone else at UNLV."

Hawkins' body has held up, and in turn, he's been a feel-good story for a program that endured an ugly hazing scandal earlier in the season, saw its coach relieved of his duties and reinstated weeks later.

"They needed me, they needed my competitive fire to push everybody else on the team," Hawkins said. "When I came to practice and joined them, they started working harder, my fire just bounced off of everybody else and it was a more positive attitude out there."

It's only Hawkins' second season playing volleyball, but the Toreadors are 3-0 so far with him in the lineup as an opposite hitter after closing the regular season with five losses in their last six matches.

Even before officially joining the team again, though, he was at every practice and every game, offering support, doing what he could to contribute.

Plus, there was some personal benefit to be gained from it.

"Volleyball helps with basketball," he said. "A lot of quick jumping. You jump a lot. It helps with my quads and everything, calves. All the formation stuff is the same as basketball."

That's the magic touch, though. Teams just seem to improve when he's around.

It was last July at the Super 64 when, thanks to a staunch defensive effort and timely outside shooting, Hawkins helped push the Magic to the finals, where they fell to Grassroots Canada Elite, led by Findlay Prep big man Tristan Thompson. Still, Hawkins proved all week against some of the country's top talent that he was a steadying influence on the floor and on the bench for his teammates.

But no matter what happens this week, the 27-5 basketball season he helped put together this winter is more than likely what he'll be most remembered for at Taft.

After losing star guard Larry Drew -- now a national champion at North Carolina -- to graduation, Taft was expected to struggle with a thin senior class led by Hawkins.

Instead came a seven-game run through the state playoffs in which they got the best of traditional powers such as Fairfax and Dominguez.

The 67-45 victory over Fairfax on Feb. 28 is what Hawkins says he'll savor the longest.

Fairfax was led by a lethal duo in Renardo Sidney and Solomon Hill, who at the time were both committed to play at Southern Cal. The game took place at USC's Galen Center.

"I think that was the most satisfying, because everybody thought it would be Westchester and Fairfax in the finals again, and they were counting us out, saying we were 15-, 20-point underdogs to Fairfax. And we beat Fairfax by 22."

The Toreadors triple-teamed Sidney all night, holding him to 13 points, sagging off of everyone else except for Hill, who couldn't provide much punch, either.

"We knew they couldn't score enough points to beat us," he said.

Meanwhile, Hawkins tallied 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. He averaged 14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a senior.

None of those season averages will blow your mind, and Hawkins comes to campus in July as maybe the least-heralded of UNLV's three incoming freshmen, joining Findlay forward Carlos Lopez and Mojave guard Anthony Marshall.

But Hawkins has no plans of taking a back seat to anyone. He and Marshall will try to find their places in the rotation as members of a backcourt which already includes Oscar Bellfield, Tre'Von Willis, Derrick Jasper and Kendall Wallace.

He said he wants to use the same qualities which helped him succeed at Taft this winter, and are still helping him in the spring.

"If you shift gears and to go the back seat, that doesn't really help the team," he said. "I'm gonna push the rest of my teammates to keep their spot ahead of me. It can make the whole team better."