The life of a rebounder can be a quiet one. The work is physical and acclaim is rare.
Already, fifth-year senior Jamie Hawkins, a transfer from Boise State University, has stood along the sidelines at home games, a solitary figure who only played during practices.
But all this – grabbing rebounds, working hard and leaving Boise State – was part of her plan to play basketball for the Ducks.
Now Hawkins, who received a scholarship for the 2006-07 season, has been participating in spring practices with next season five months away. She knows clearly that she has one year to make a difference. Unlike other players who redshirt as freshmen, she has Division I experience and has played for ranked teams.
Still, Hawkins had to prove herself and earn her scholarship.
“It’s tough,” she said. “It’s hard to stand and go through a three-hour practice and then turn around and go workout for yourself for another hour or so.”
An established post player, she became disillusioned with the Broncos, who were marked by a coaching change and players leaving. Entering her senior year, Hawkins took a chance. She left Boise State and walked on at Oregon.
“She had enough confidence in her own abilities to go do it, and I got to give her a lot of credit for that too,” said Dan Hawkins, Jamie Hawkins’ uncle and head football coach at the University of Colorado. “It’s not easy to start over like that and go prove yourself.”
The past year of practices gave Oregon coaches a glimpse of Hawkins as a player, and they awarded her the scholarship.
The 6-foot-1 forward, who sported averages of 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game her last season in Boise, spent last year as a redshirt watching Oregon’s 14-15 season from the bench and learning the Ducks’ motion offense.
She balanced adapting to a new city with a new roommate, teammate Kedzie Gunderson, and staying focused and in-shape.
With her redshirt year over, Hawkins said her presence may help Oregon, which ranked second in the Pacific-10 Conference in defensive rebounds (26.72 per game), but last in offensive boards (10.72).
Oregon coaches broke down the offense, which moves posts to different areas of the court, for Hawkins.
“She primarily played on the block,” Oregon assistant coach Phil Brown said of Hawkins’ time at Boise. “Our bigs need to play out on the perimeter at various times, whether that’s screening back out or bouncing back out to a perimeter spot and cutting back inside.
“Jamie’s really done a great job of adding some more perimeter skills like her range and her shot.”
Her Oregon career began after three years as a Bronco, where she established herself as a scorer (862 points) and as a rebounder.
Dan Hawkins didn’t have the chance to be around his niece growing up, and the two grew closer in their three years in Boise together. Both came from Bieber, Calif., population 600. She could have visited the University of Washington in high school, but declined, oblivious to the realities of college recruiting and not wanting to go to a big city.
Hawkins found family support with Boise State and her uncle, who, along with his wife, became regular attendees at Hawkins’ games when he wasn’t coaching or recruiting for Boise State, where he coached football for five years before heading to Colorado. A passionate coach who saw physical, bone-jarring hits in football, he enjoyed seeing his niece play tough, hard-nosed basketball.
“She’s a kid that grew up in a blue-collar background,” he said. “She’s not afraid to get in there and grind a little bit.”
Then, everything changed.
Boise State wasn’t winning and players were unhappy. Multiple players, the Idaho Statesman reported, met with Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier about concerns about coach Jen Warden. Two starting forwards – including Hawkins – a reserve and an assistant left the program.
“There are expectations from people who don’t see the day-to-day operations, and there is going to be speculation,” Warden told the Statesman.
“I will live with that as part of a profession that I love.”
Warden eventually departed for an opening at Colorado State University, and Gordy Presnell took over at BSU.
Hawkins confided in her uncle, expressing her displeasure with the program, and listened to his advice. Accustomed to playing, Hawkins’ minutes had dropped each year since she had averaged 26.5 as a freshman.
“He laid it out on the table and said, ‘This is what’s going to happen, and this is your choice,’” she said.
Hawkins knew ex-Oregon assistant coach Peg Swadener, who recruited Hawkins to Boise. After she gained her release from Boise, Hawkins called her former coach and talked about coming to Oregon.
“I didn’t want to leave my teammates in Boise, or maybe some of my coaches, but it gets to a point where you got to make a decision for yourself, no matter what other people are saying,” Hawkins said.
Jamie Hawkins and Dan Hawkins both declined to reveal specific reasons for her departure.
Her arrival in Eugene has given her time to develop chemistry with teammates and understand the talent jump from the Western Athletic Conference to the Pacific-10 Conference.
“It was a fresh start,” she said. “At Boise, it got to the point where I was going through the motions.”
She played with four male practice players and faced Oregon posts Gabrielle Richards and Jessie Shetters daily in practice.