Lions don’t belong in a cage.
That’s how Homewood-Flossmoor boys basketball coach Jamere Dismukes describes his handling of talented freshman guard Darrius Hawkins. The ninth grader is self-assured. Right now that can sometimes lead to mistakes, but Dismukes is careful not to bottle that.
“We’re not going to hurt his confidence because his confidence is his best attribute,” Dismukes said. “He’s used to playing the entire game and now he averages half the game. We have a rotation and he’s coming in four minutes into each quarter, if he’s not in already. We’re just trying to keep him confident and let him know that these are learning lessons and not punishments.”
Both sides of Hawkins were on display in the Vikings’ 91-31 trouncing of Sandburg Jan. 8. Hawkins came off the bench to lead all scorers with 20 points, a career high, including four 3-pointers and a few highlight reel plays.
He also looked like a freshman a couple times, like when he ignored a play called by Dismukes and decided to try to get his own bucket but had his shot blocked. It was time for one of those lessons. Hawkins was immediately sent back to the bench.
“I saw the left side a little open and in my head I was like ‘This is a great opportunity for me to get my teammates involved or put the ball in the rim.’ It didn’t work out like that,” Hawkins said. “I’m just glad (Dismukes) was there to teach me and coach me through the moment instead of dragging me out.”
Dismukes said he saw Hawkins’ eyes light up when he pulled the point guard out of the game. It was exactly what he wanted to see.
Dawkins was out of the cage and back on the floor quickly.
“It’s not a sub out and grill you and curse you out,” Dismukes said. “I do expect him to do bonehead things throughout the course of this year. I even expect him to do bonehead things next year but by the time he’s a junior or senior I think the whole country is going to know who he is.”
Hawkins is used to being the star. He said his family and support system have always instilled confidence in him, too.
The Vikings are the defending Class 4A state champs and have plenty of talent, though, so Dawkins doesn’t start as a freshman. That wasn’t easy to accept.
“Coming from eighth grade, where I’m averaging 25-plus (points) and 10 assists to the summer where I’m doing the same thing in AAU, it was a difficult adjustment for me to come to a team with Division I players who can put the ball in the basket as well as I can,” he said. “I feel like I’m adjusting really well.”
Hawkins didn’t just score. He had three steals against Sandburg, too. As a whole, H-F forced a whopping 33 turnovers. It scored the game’s first 14 points and led 19-2 after a quarter. The contest was never close.
Dismukes said the hot start was the Vikings taking out the Big Dipper championship loss on the Eagles. Homewood-Flossmoor lost to host Rich Township 81-67 in the annual event. It had more than a week to think about it and practice before Sandburg walked into the South gym.
“We were focused on our on-ball defense after (the Dipper) because we felt like that was one of the issues and why we couldn’t win that game,” Dismukes said. “We were focused on ‘You guard your man. Don’t worry about the help. Don’t focus on the help. If you ever need it, it’ll be there but guard your man.’ I thought we did a really good job of that tonight.”
A year ago, H-F was cruising through the early portion of the season when it lost to Gonzaga College High School in the Chicago Elite Classic. Many of the Vikings talked about that loss being a turning point in their season, even months later. It was a wake-up call for a team that may have been a little overconfident.
Dawkins wasn’t on last season’s team, but he thinks the Big Dipper loss could be a similarly critical moment this year.
“Those losses can take you in either direction,” he said. “We have a brotherhood over here, so we took it as a disrespect. We’ll work as hard as possible to get back in the position that we was in before.”
