Who else can say that they are from D.C., went to school in the area and brought the city its first championship? It’s something that I will never forget. It also speaks to my journey of never giving up and persevering through everything that was thrown at me.” In 2019, the Washington Mystics brought the first-ever championship to Washington, D.C. after defeating the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA Finals, a moment that Hawkins said she is the most proud of. So, we get to the gym, and there’s a whole basketball game going on!” Hawkins said. “The coach was like, ‘Oh no, don’t worry about it. We’ve got your jerseys and basketball shorts. We just want you guys to go out there and have fun, just play. Run with your hands up.’” The five of us had played our entire four years together. So it was one of those years where we wanted to go out with a bang, we wanted to give it all we had that year to make a serious push,” said Hawkins. He admitted some of his success was motivated by not getting recruited by Big Ten schools or DePaul.

In her rookie season, Hawkins admitted to leaning on then WNBA veterans Tanisha Wright and Camille Little for guidance as she adjusted to life as a pro basketball player, in an unfamiliar place that was far away from her hometown. Angel Reese defends gesture directed towards Caitlin Clark after LSU national title win; calls out double standard after being 'unapologetically' her The most prolific and celebrated player in the history of Bradley University men’s basketball is now a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.Hawkins would etch her name in history at the University of Maryland during her senior season, ranking seventh in single-season rebounds (331) and finished her career with 1,086, ranking fifth in program history. That was the defensive key,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought both teams missed some really good looks from 3 that could have swung the game either way. But I thought on Hawkins, O-Max Prosper, and whoever on our team, did a phenomenal job. We can beat UConn with their bigs scoring some 2’s around the basket. We can win the game like we did tonight. I don't know if we can beat them if Hawkins goes and makes five, six threes, and Calcaterra and guys are making.” I know I didn’t have my best year. It was by far the worst professional year I’ve ever had,” Hawkins said.

To have coaches that believe in you and that trust the fact that you can go out there and do it every night, and then to have players who are just as talented as you are but are willing to sacrifice their game for the betterment of the team to get me open, that that meant a lot,” he said. “So I share this with a lot of those guys.” The day I got drafted, an investigator called me and was like, ‘We want to go ahead and push your paperwork through to the next step,’” Hawkins recalled. “And I told them, ‘Oh no! I’m about to get drafted [into the WNBA].’” Zoom Bradley University basketball star Hersey Hawkins speaks about his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame during a Zoom news conference Monday. Hawkins, the all-time leading scorer in Braves history, was part of an eight-member Class of 2021 enshrined Sunday night in Kansas City, Mo. Glass ceilings and the Space Needle, the 19th Amendment and "Equality." As part of the WNBA's 25th anniversary season in 2021, players will wear new Nike jerseys with individual messages and city-specific flourishes for each of the 12 teams.The Liberty's Rebel Edition brings the heat with the vibrant color often associated with the oxidized copper of the Statue of Liberty herself. (Read: teal, for all you non-chemists out there.) And her torch helps highlight the promise of equality for all. Phoenix Mercury Courtesy Nike, Inc.

I didn't want to go far from home anyway, so, three hours away where my parents could still come to the game – just a great decision,” said Hawkins. “Bradley, they have some of the most loyal and just outstanding fans; the fan support was wonderful. Of course, the school rallied around us and we had some pretty good teams during my four years there.” This was a game Hawkins desperately wanted to own. It was the type of game a first-team All-Big East guard should make a heavy impact on. Hawkins tried. He was chased all over by Olivier-Maxence Prosper and never got going. Right now, we have the biggest and largest and deepest women's organization focused on making sure we are tapping into all the opportunities for 'her,'" said Sonja Henning, Nike's vice president of league partnerships in North America and a former WNBA player. "No surprise that led us to the most comprehensive WNBA apparel offering Nike has ever made and probably the WNBA has ever seen. They're going to show up with new practice gear, new travel gear and new lifestyle gear." Scoring, of course. Honestly, I heard about the 14 other records and I don't even know what they are,” he said. “The only one I ever paid attention to was the scoring, so that's the one I'm most proud of.”

Player News

Maryland was really the only school that I saw play on TV,” Hawkins said. “I come from a time where we didn’t really see ourselves on TV as women playing basketball and competing. Maryland was a powerhouse school. They were always on TV, they were that good. So, I was like, if I’m gonna go to college, I want to be on a team that’s gonna be on TV so that people can see me. Players like Skylar Diggins-Smith, Bria Hartley and Dearica Hamby have all had similar experiences.

The Sun's uniform is inspired by the Mohegan Tribe, featuring the Mohegan word for sun, "keesusk," front and center. The pattern of the taping down the sides is a nod to the Trail of Life that connects past and future generations. Dallas Wings Courtesy Nike, Inc. One of Hawkins’ other Bradley records is the single-game scoring mark of 63 points, in a 122-107 win over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 22, 1988. Hawkins called it “an unbelievable night” – but believes it could have been even higher.There were others, though, so many others — from Hawkins and from Newton and from Joey Calcaterra, who had first walked down the tunnel. He used his jersey to cover his face. While continuing her collegiate basketball career, Hawkins was also embarking on other passions. Having a close relationship with her grandfather, a former Washington, D.C. police officer and U.S. Marshal, motivated Hawkins to consider a career in law enforcement after college. This is for all the kids from Gaithersburg, Maryland, that didn’t think they could do it. I did it. Now you can do it, man,” Hawkins told game broadcaster CBS. “Me and Angel paved the way. We did it.”