HIGH PRAISE FOR HAWKINS

[William F Hansford]

HIGH PRAISE FOR HAWKINS

We'll leave you with this on your Monday morning: Did you notice how strongly Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari praised incoming freshman guard Dominique Hawkins last week? If not, take a look:

“Dominique Hawkins, a young man from in state that just kind of blew me away with his will to win, his temperament on the court, his demeanor in helping his team win a championship,” Calipari said. “You always want to coach guys who understand. By winning a state championship and being down 16 two games, it shows what a tough mentality (he has), and with what I just went through, I wanted a tough point guard. I wanted one more tough, physical -- how bout this -- not just fighting, physical tough, how about mentally tough? How about not break down? How about, 'I'm bringing it and I'm not afraid to be 16 down and it has no effect on me?' That's what I saw in Dominique and why we recruited him.”

Left unsaid there was just how frustrated Calipari was with Ryan Harrow last season. Harrow was a good kid but he didn't have the demeanor or mental makeup to handle playing for Calipari and the Cats struggled mightily because of it. Hawkins, Jarrod Polson and the Harrison twins will provide a much more stable back court this season.


Read the complete article...

http://kentucky.247sports.com/Article/A-look-around-Kentucky-athletics-for-May-20th-131417