(Atlantic) Atlantic High School graduate Ryan Hawkins stopped by the KSOM/KS95.7 studios on Wednesday morning to recap his first year playing professional basketball. The former Northwest Missouri State and Creighton standout spent the past season with Toronto’s NBA G-League team, Raptors 905.
“There were a lot of times I was up there and had to remind myself two years ago I was playing Division II basketball and I had to put into perspective for myself and my expectations that the speed of the game and the athleticism is just completely different.” Hawkins says, “I’ve really never had time to just adapt to that speed and that style of play yet. So there were times I struggled because of that, but at the same time, that’s life and it’s been a beautiful journey. I felt like I learned a lot, definitely got better, and I definitely had fun with that too.”
Hawkins went from being well known as a team leader to playing within much more of a one-on-one style, “Everyone is out for themselves and anything they can do to make themselves look better they are going to do. Which means a lot of times the extra pass isn’t being made, team defense isn’t happening, all the things basketball purists like to see, it doesn’t happen at that level. It’s really frustrating for me, because that’s how I impact the game is doing those little things and that just doesn’t happen in the G-League.”
In 17.9 minutes per game, Hawkins averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He made 32.2% of his 3-pointers. In some games he played big minutes and in others he played sparingly. “That’s the tricky part because I’m used to playing 40 minutes a game at the college level and I knew what my role was. You get to the G-League and everyday you have a different role and different expectations about what you are expected to do. Honestly what the game plan could be gets completely thrown out the window because you have one or two guys that get hot and they are going to keep feeding them. That’s part of basketball, but at the same time it doesn’t help with the flow.”
Hawkins was asked if he felt like he proved himself at the professional level. “Oh 100%. There were a lot of times I didn’t shoot it great, but it’s hard to shoot it great when you don’t have that defined role and rhythm. There were also three or four games where I made the game winning play. That’s very rewarding for me to prove that I stuck it out and truly had that measurable impact on the game. Overall it was a great experience for me.”
A return to the G-League next season is one of several possible options. Hawkins will host a series of camps throughout Southwest Iowa this summer and is expecting to compete for a 2nd straight year in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League.
