Wing With All-Star Bloodlines Will Visit

With Seward (Kan.) County Community College point guard Ricardo Freeman already a solid verbal commitment, South Florida has turned its attention to filling the other two needs on its recruiting wish list – a scoring wing player and a sturdy center.

One center prospect, Konimba Diarra, a 6-foot-10, 240-pounder from Our Savior New American school in Centereach, N.Y., will visit campus the weekend of Oct. 4. And a high-scoring wing with Hall-of-Fame bloodlines will be in the following weekend.

Shawn Hawkins, grandson of former NBA superstar Connie Hawkins, is expected to visit South Florida for the weekend of Midnight Madness (Oct. 11-13), according to Columbus State (Ohio) Community College Head Coach Anthony Gholson.

Hawkins, a 6-6, 220-pound forward, averaged 18 points and nine rebounds per game last season as a freshman at CSCC. He was named first-team all-conference in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference and is the top returning player in the league this season.

“He should have been the player of the year in the conference last year,” Gholson said. “He can score any way you need him to and I think he fits the mold of the kind of players Coach (Seth) Greenberg likes. He’s an Altron Jackson-type. He’s strong and has great hands. He has a good middle game and he also shot around 42-percent from three for us last year.”

Hawkins grew up in Pittsburgh’s inner city and starred at Schenley High School in the same class with Kent State star Nate Gerwig. Among the other schools recruiting Hawkins are: Long Beach State, South Alabama, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Kent State, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and Nebraska.

“Nebraska has shown some interest but they haven’t been in,” Gholson. “South Florida has been the school that’s been the hottest on his trail. They’ve given him more personalized attention than anyone else. He doesn’t have a favorite, but I know he likes South Florida – Coach Greenberg and Coach Z (David Zimroth) a lot.”

Hawkins will make his first official visit this weekend to Long Beach State. Gholson said he expects Hawkins to make all of his allotted visits and to commit during the early signing period (Nov. 13-20).