'Always 100 percent hustle'

SANDPOINT — It’s 3 p.m., school has just ended and the Sandpoint High School boys basketball team is getting ready to start another practice.

Some of the players are stretching, some are honing their jump shots and a couple are playing an impromptu game of one-on-one.

But not starting senior point guard Brandon Hawkins. Instead, he’s manning a push broom, like he does before each and every practice, dodging his teammates as he jogs up and down the floor sweeping the court clean.

“I think that says a lot about what Brandon is about,” says head coach Tyler Haynes of his three-sport athlete. “He has no ego. He sees an issue and he does it — and he does it every day. What he does for everyone around him, whether athletic or academic, is raise the bar.”

That same work ethic and mindset carries over onto the court and into the classroom. It’s hard to tell which stat is most impressive: Hawkins’ gaudy 4.15 GPA, or the fact that a 5-foot-9 point guard leads his team in rebounding with 6.5 per game.

Hawkins is currently in the second phase of a three-sport senior season, having also started at quarterback on the football team in the fall. When track season starts, he hopes to make a run at a state medal in the 800 meters and plans to try the triple jump for the first time.

So which of the three sports is his favorite?

“During basketball season it’s basketball,” he answers, only ruling out track. “During football season it’s football.”

Haynes says he’s never had a point guard lead his team in rebounding, yet isn’t the least bit surprised that Hawkins has 46 more boards than the next closest Bulldog, calling him one of the fiercest competitors he’s ever coached.

“I like to get down there and bang around with the big boys,” describes Hawkins of his rebounding. “I seem to be in the right place at the right time.”

Hawkins is averaging more than six points and six rebounds this season, committing just 1.5 turnovers per game while running the show. He plays full speed and without fear, and is usually saddled with the task of guarding the opposing team’s best player.

Whether as a quarterback/defensive back on the football team, the floor general on the court, or blazing around the track come spring, Hawkins only knows one gear: full speed.

“Never a quit, always 100 percent,” says SHS athletic director Tom Albertson of Hawkins. “In the classroom, doesn’t matter, just great hustle until the game is over.”

Hawkins is a third generation Bulldog, wearing the same Sandpoint red as his dad Ed Hawkins, his grandfather, and numerous uncles and cousins. He’s also the last of his generation to play at Sandpoint, so it may be a little while before another Hawkins dons the red and white.

He plans to attend the University of Idaho next year and study bio-chemistry, also known as food sciences, with the hopes of one day starting his own business.

“I’d like to own and operate my own brewery,” says Hawkins, whose family started Litehouse Foods in Sandpoint. “That or just join Litehouse.”

But that’s further on down the road. Right now, Hawkins’ focus is on helping the Bulldogs secure a berth at state, beginning tonight against Lakeland.

Tip off is 7 p.m. at Les Rogers Court, with the winner facing Moscow.