NEW YORK – Former UConn guard Jordan Hawkins The No. 14 overall was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA draft on Thursday.
Around his table, in the center of the Barclays Center floor directly in front of the Adam Silver podium, sit UConn coach Dan Hurley and assistant Kimani Young, as well as his high school coach Mike Jones and members of his family, including his father, Craig, his mother, Jasmine, and his three sisters. Often emotional, Hawkins said before the draft that he would not cry when he was selected. He said, “I stumbled.”
Jordan Hawkins was selected 14th overall by @employee in 2023 #NBADraft Provided by State Farm!
Live broadcast on ABC & ESPN. pic.twitter.com/zulLsGI86m
– The NBA June 23, 2023
The first thing he hears from Hurley after hearing his name is called “I love you”.
“I love this guy to death,” said Hawkins. “Without him, none of this is possible. He helped me a lot during my career, during the two years that I spent with him. I am really grateful to him.”
Hawkins is the program 21 first-round pick He will be the 15th player to be added to UConn’s lottery wall at the Werth training facility.
On the lottery wall!!! pic.twitter.com/jMedg9tVbY
– Dan Hurley (@dhurley15) June 23, 2023
“They will have to see my face every day,” he said. “That would be great.”
From Gaithersburg, Md. Hawkins entered the draft after shining through UConn’s NCAA tournament tournament, when he made 21 of 42 attempts (50%) from 3-point range and averaged 16.3 points per six Huskies tournament games. This cycle capped off his breakout sophomore season as Hawkins averaged 16.2 points (nearly 11 points up from his senior year), 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 38.8% from the 3-point line, up 5.5 % from 2021-22.
“I don’t drink, but I think I’ll have a little glass of wine tonight,” Jordan’s father, Craig Hawkins, told The Courant. “It’s beautiful, watching my son live my dream, come on. Unbelievable. A feeling you can’t even explain. It’s like — honestly it doesn’t really hit me yet, you know what I’m saying? You honestly prepared us for this situation, but now it’s like — it’s so real. It’s Really like here.”
UConn fans may remember the moments when the Hawks were soaring—like when he exploded for 26 points in the second half, single-handedly bringing the Huskies back from a 15-point halftime deficit to Xavier at Gampel Pavilion.
In Round 1, after struggling to score in the first half against Iona, Hawkins marked his arrival with a four-point play and added another pair of buckets from deep to put the game away. He made six three-pointers to help the Huskies past Gonzaga in the Elite Eight, and more importantly, he scored a whopping 3 goals to shoot a 9-0 run that helped shut out San Diego State in the championship game.
As the Hawkins sat at the table on the draft floor, watching pick after pick, they began to get sleepy.
“Because you’re anxious, you look at your child, you see the stress on his face, you don’t know because no one is giving you a hint of anything, so you’re just sitting there waiting,” Craig said. .
Pure excitement laugh daddy after seeing @golive23 Get crafting 14‼️#HU5KIES | @NBADraft pic.twitter.com/Y0GEnoblGY
– UConn Men’s Basketball (UConnMBB) June 23, 2023
Hawkins spent two days visiting New Orleans – enjoying the food – but “had no idea” where he would be chosen on Thursday night. Cousin, Angel Reesewill be relatively close in Baton Rouge as it looks to defend its national championship at LSU.
“A couple of teams I worked for walked away from me, but (New Orleans) took a chance,” he said. ((New Orleans) will get the best shooter in the draft, a tournament player, a guy who can make room for Zion and BI (Brandon Ingram).
“I will probably gain a few pounds because of the food. So that will be a good thing.”
Andre Jackson selected from UConn with the 36th overall pick in the NBA Draft, reportedly headed to Milwaukee Bucks