The NBA Draft Combine kicked off on Monday at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago where Illinois had two recent graduates go through the process: guard Terrence Shannon Jr and forward Coleman Hawkins. Although both players were scheduled to participate in the on-court strength and agility tests and shooting drills, only Hawkins ended up taking the court. 

Hawkins started off by measuring both his standing vertical jump and vertical jump with a run. He measured 24 inches and 29.5 inches, respectively, which are relatively low marks compared to other prospects. Hawkins, however, credited this to the knee injury he is still nursing from the Illini’s historic 2023-24 season. 

“It’s still not at its best. My vertical test wasn’t very good,” Hawkins said. “Obviously, you know, trying to jump off my left knee. Over time, when I take time to rehab and take care of my body it’ll be better, but right now I’m just happy to be here. Of course, I’m going to tough it out and do as best as I can and compete at everything.”

Despite not physically being 100%, Hawkins shot the ball well. The 6-foot-10 forward shot 53.3% off the dribble, 64% on spot-up attempts and 64% from three in the three-point star drill. He didn’t seem to lose any energy or get frustrated when his shots didn’t fall. Instead, he had either a constant straight face or smile, which alleviates a concern some had about his attitude on the court earlier last season.

Although their on-court testing is finished, players have the chance to participate in scrimmages over the next couple of days. Because the Collective Bargaining Agreement makes the scrimmages optional, most top-tier players choose to not participate, and Shannon is no exception. The Chicago native and projected first-round pick was not listed on Tuesday’s rosters and will almost certainly not play on Wednesday, limiting his Combine experience to just off-court team interviews. On the other hand, Hawkins will play in the scrimmages, something he sees as another opportunity to showcase his skill set.

“Why not?” Hawkins said regarding his scrimmage participation. “Just go out and be able to compete against a high-level group of guys. That’s all you can ask for. So yeah, I’m not going to sit out against great competition, especially when they’re asking people to play.

In four-on-four drills toward the end of his workout on Monday, Hawkins moved well without the ball and set very strong off-ball screens to create opportunities for his teammates. He was also very aggressive in cutting toward the basket. Hawkins hopes that this year he can showcase that side of his game more in the scrimmages.

“Last year I felt that I was too passive,” Hawkins said. “And that’s just part of my game, you know, I try to facilitate, get the ball moving side-to-side. But this year, you get another opportunity.”

Hawkins’ ability to be a threat from the outside, do all the little things on the court and make his teammates better is an intriguing mix that an NBA team is likely to take a chance on late in the second round, especially at his size. The former Illini hasn’t done any workouts with teams before the combine, unlike last year, but he is as focused as ever on making sure he finds the right opportunity. 

“This year I kind of chilled out, was just rehabbing my knee a lot, trying to make my knee feels as good as possible going into this,” Hawkins said. “I haven’t done any before, just based off of saving those workouts for people who are very interested and are looking for that guaranteed contract or have trust in me. We want to be super serious about that in the future, so moving forward I have a lot more workouts.”

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