Ever since Dominique Hawkins burst onto the recruiting scene, there seemed to be a tidal wave of support to give the local star a Kentucky Wildcats scholarship. It feels like we've been discussing Hawkins, a point guard from Richmond (KY) Madison Central, seemingly forever. In fact, his name surfaced just over a month ago after Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua began scouting his games.
What a whirlwind period that has been for Hawkins. First, he led his team to the KHSAA Sweet 16 championship at the end of March, and recently was announced as Mr. Basketball in Kentucky. Today, he announced his commitment to Kentucky via an event from his high school.
Hawkins, a 6' 0", 170 lb combo guard, wasn't highly ranked by recruiting services. He's ranked a 3* prospect (173rd overall) by 247 Sports, and just outside the Top 250 via the 247 Composite Rankings. That didn't stop John Calipari and company from relentlessly recruiting Hawkins over the past month.
The only question in Hawkins' recruitment is whether Kentucky would have enough scholarships to extend an offer to the Madison Central star. But after the departure of Ryan Harrow (transferred to Georgia State) and Archie Goodwin (declared for the NBA Draft), the Wildcats coaching staff gave a favorable nod in Hawkins' direction.
He's not expected to play big minutes next year. Fellow 2013ers Aaron and Andrew Harrison are projected as backcourt starters, while rising senior Jarrod Polson is slated to return as the backup 1. Rising senior Jon Hood is currently projected to return as well and will battle incoming freshman James Young for backup 2 minutes.
However, it appears that the coaching staff has done their homework, identifying Hawkins as a player that can help the Kentucky program. Other coaches felt that way too: Hawkins earned late offers from the Purdue Boilermakers and South Carolina Gamecocks as well as the offers he already had from the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Tennessee Tech and Morehead St. But it'll be a Kentucky uniform he'll don next year, and Big Blue Nation is sure glad to have him aboard.