(Atlantic) The dream of playing basketball for a living is being realized by Atlantic graduate Ryan Hawkins.
The former Northwest Missouri State and Creighton star told KSOM/KS95.7 Sports he is signing with Toronto. “I don’t really know what to expect out of this, but it’s the next step forward and I cant wait for the experience and hopefully a great season ahead.”
Hawkins waited patiently. He competed in the NBA Summer League in July and then saw the months of August and September pass by without any deal in place. “It was stressful, but thankfully I was able to be back in Atlantic and be surrounded by a lot of friends and family that were able to kind of take my mind off of it for a little bit. It happened really late in the season.” Hawkins says, “It’s all been kind of delayed as far as I was expecting. I’m just thankful for the opportunity first off, but second off it made for a long summer. I was still able to enjoy it, but definitely stressful.”
The franchise’s G-League affiliate, Raptors 905, is based in Toronto. “So everything is right in the same city which will be a great setting to be in.” Hawkins says, “Just as far as their player development with that organization is almost second to none when you look at the guys they’ve pushed out of their G-League organization that are now stars in the NBA.”
Hawkins indicates he was worried he may have missed his chance. “That was definitely the concern at first and then once you start thinking about that you realize that all of the European teams are 2-3-4 weeks ahead of the NBA season, so anything overseas was kind of out of the picture. Very thankful this was able to work out. It was kind of a big sigh of relief. A lot of weight was lifted off the shoulders. Very excited for that. It meant I get to keep playing basketball, so I was real happy about that.”
The Raptors 905 regular season opener is Saturday, November 5th.
