Good Morning, Illini Nation: Coleman Hawkins on ‘The Journey’ | Sports

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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Scott Richey, Illini’s beaten writer and AP Top 25 voter. He will offer information each morning on Brad Underwood’s team:

Illinois junior forward Coleman Hawkins was the latest Big Ten athlete to be featured on “The Journey.” Hawkins’ segment debuted Wednesday, and he said the process was “cool.”

“The reason Coleman can shoot today is because he couldn’t get shot in his own house.”

Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23), the son of a former San Diego State star, grew up playing against his three older sisters. @BTNJourney profiles the family of @IlliniMBB F ⤵️. pic.twitter.com/dwVVDwUkiv

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 1, 2023

Rodney Hawkins was a good player in his day.

Before deciding to play at San Diego State, he made a recruiting visit to Kansas State.

Brad Underwood was part of the team then, and now he coaches Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23). @BTNJourney – 4:30 PM CT | 2/1 | @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/lflENGPM8f

— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) February 1, 2023

“They need to go home to Sacramento and talk to my dad and talk to my sister,” Hawkins said. “Get a glimpse of what I went through as a kid. I haven’t been able to share the full story, but I think it’s great to just hear my story and where I’m from and how I grew up around basketball. Being around three older sisters who played basketball. Not being in a situation where I was the star player all the time.

“My dad never had to coach me and was never too involved in the recruiting process or tried to coach me. … No daddy ball. I went through and battled all the adversity. This is just a glimpse of my early career.”

Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).