Former KU guard Jeff Hawkins excited about new job coaching Pembroke Hill boys hoops
Jeff Hawkins contacted several family members and friends after accepting the head boys varsity basketball coaching position at The Pembroke Hill School Friday.
One person high on Hawkins’ contact list was Bill Self, Hawkins’ coach at the University of Kansas from 2004-06.
“Coach Self said, ‘Hawk I’m proud of you.’ Still, to this day, if Coach says, ‘I’m proud of you,’ just like when he says it to his current players, it means so much,” Hawkins said Monday in discussing his new coaching opportunity with The Star.
“It’s a humble feeling knowing he cares not only about his current players but ones that played for him before,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins, 37, takes over Pembroke Hill’s varsity boys basketball program after working last season as Pembroke’s middle school coach for eighth-graders.
Before that, he worked for a year as program manager at Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City and four and a half years as recreation programmer for the City of Lawrence Parks and Receation department. His last high school head-basketball coaching job was at Perry-Lecompton near Lawrence, where he served as varsity boys coach from 2012-15.
“I really enjoyed it, (but) I always said I’d never get back into high school coaching,” said Hawkins, who started the Kansas United youth basketball program in the summer of 2015. “I love the game of basketball more than anything in the world, but I thought I was maxed out on my passion for the game. Then I became the middle school coach. We practiced three times a week an hour and 15 minutes. I said, ‘That’s about right.’
“After working with those kids … they brought the passion and love of the game back to me. Seeing how much they loved basketball, they reignited it in me. When the boys head varsity coaching position came open, I said, ‘I want to go all-in with those kids who have worked so hard.’’’
Hawkins, who was a standout guard at Sumner High School, has vivid memories of Pembroke Hill from his days growing up in Kansas City.
“It’s funny how things work out. When I was in eighth grade, I went to a camp at Pembroke Hill called, ‘Camp for Kids,’” Hawkins said. “It was a free camp for 500 kids. They brought college coaches there, They picked 10 campers to go to the Michael Jordan camp in California. I was one of the 10 that got picked from the camp at Pembroke. I got a chance to meet Michael Jordan at the camp.”
Hawkins and his wife, Heather, have three children, Mavrick, Sienna, and Atticus. They live in Lawrence, where Heather works for the KU Alumni Association.
“I’m excited for this opportunity for my family and myself,” said Hawkins, a 2005 KU graduate with a major in communications studies. “Pembroke is such a great school that prepares students for college. I feel honored, humbled and blessed to be a small part of that. I can’t wait to get in the gym with the guys and start to accomplish great things with them. I have a huge passion to give back to the community.
“COVID-19 has given everybody a little break. I’m praying every day we find a way to slow COVID down and get vaccines going, not just to normalize my school but every other one, too. I will stay optimistic and make sure I do everything I can to make sure we are ready for the season.”
The school announced Monday that Hawkins will also serve as a full-time substitute teacher on the Ward Parkway Campus. Currently, Hawkins works for Morgan-Hunter Education as a substitute for Kansas City-area elementary and secondary schools.
Pembroke Hill athletic director Sharon Cole is pleased to have Hawkins on board.
“We believe his personality, his experience and his ability to connect with students will help grow our boys basketball program,” Cole said in a release.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Former KU guard Jeff Hawkins excited about new job coaching Pembroke Hill boys hoops."
