Illinois standout Coleman Hawkins said that if he didn’t end up at the Illini, he would have played for Rutgers basketball head coach Steve Pikiell. It was a nice (and unsolicited) shoutout from one of the Big Ten’s top returning players.
A four-star recruit according to ESPN.com, Hawkins was a Rutgers recruit and even visited campus in June of 2019. He was a part of Illinois’ strong 2020 recruiting class.
The comments from Hawkins were interesting because they were unsolicited. On3 national recruiting analyst posted a graphic on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) where he asked fans which Big Ten head coach they’d like to play for.
It is a simple way to up social media engagement, and Tipton probably wasn’t expecting to see a Big Ten player respond. And he probably didn’t expect to see a conference head coach also named in the response:
Coach Pikiell (obviously not counting illinois) https://t.co/g090ykI3Nu
— Coleman Hawkins (@colehawk23) August 29, 2023
Hawkins was quick to point out that his tweet was “Coach Pikiell (obviously not counting illinois).” Hawkins projects to be a big factor in the Illinois front court this year and landed a very good spot both on and off the court.
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Last season, Hawkins averaged 9.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.