Suspension helped Hawkins gain perspective

By Gary Bedore     Oct 25, 2004

Hawkins

Reporters didn’t pepper Jeff Hawkins with questions during his monthlong banishment from the Kansas University men’s basketball team.

But Hawkins had to face the inquiries of fellow students, who wondered just what the Jayhawk junior did to invoke the wrath of head coach Bill Self.

“They’d ask, ‘Why? What happened?”’ said Hawkins, whose suspension began Aug. 23 because of undisclosed behavior issues and ended Sept. 27. “I’d try to say, ‘It’s personal.’ They were all … ‘You can tell me. I won’t tell.’ I said, ‘It’s personal, what don’t you understand about that?”’

Hawkins says he wasn’t “as positive as he needed to be,” and the threat of being kicked off the team has changed him for the better.

“It had a pretty big effect on me. It’s made me a lot stronger,” said the 5-foot-11 guard from Kansas City, Kan. “In a way I’m happy it happened. It’s opened my eyes a lot.”

“It” also has strengthened lines of communication with family members.

“I expected my parents to be upset with me. They were real supportive,” Hawkins said. “They were the ones there for me. I had the most talks with my parents since I was little.”

One bit of advice Hawkins embraced was not to brood during the suspension. Instead, he chose to stay in shape and show he sorely wanted to be reinstated.

“I wasn’t just sitting back playing video games,” Hawkins said. “I was playing at the rec (center). Most people who play at the rec center walk it down. I’d try to run a lot, and do a little more than they do.

“I’d try to run a couple 33s (sprints). I thought if I had a chance to come back I didn’t want to come back 20 pounds heavier.”

He reported to the first day of boot camp conditioning drills at 173 pounds, about 10 pounds lighter than he was a year ago.

“I came in pretty well-conditioned, feeling good about my body,” he said.

He also felt good about his state of mind.

“The big thing for me is to be more positive, have a positive attitude at all times, work harder in practice to better my teammates as well as myself,” Hawkins said.

His attitude has impressed head coach Bill Self.

“I’ll say this: Jeff Hawkins has done everything we’ve asked him to do,” Self said. “I know it has been good for him in the short term. I hope it is in the long term. It remains to be seen. I certainly believe he can contribute and be an asset to our program if he continues along the same route he’s taken of late.”

Health could determine whether Hawkins improves on his 2003-04 averages of 1.7 points and 8.9 minutes of playing time per game. A herniated disk in his back has bothered Hawkins since high school.

“I slipped a disk in my back … the fourth day of boot camp I couldn’t bend over, do anything. It (disk problem) was causing a lot of pain in my right leg. I’ve been getting a lot of treatment. It’s felt OK lately.”

One Jayhawk says to not count out Hawkins.

“I haven’t talked to him about it a lot. It’s his business, but he’s gotten through it all pretty well,” Hawkins’ roommate Moulaye Niang said. “He can definitely be a good player on this team.”

The only question that remains is … what actually did Hawkins do to get the one-month boot?

“Now you’d like me to tell you that, wouldn’t you?” Hawkins grinned. “I will not say.”

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