Khayvon Hawkins, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound wide receiver from Robbinsdale (MN) Cooper, attended two of the Minnesota football camps in June.
Khayvon Hawkins, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound wide receiver from Robbinsdale (MN) Cooper, attended two of the Minnesota football camps in June. He helped lead the Hawks to an 8-3 mark last season. Gopher Hole recently caught up with Hawkins to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You attended the two Gopher Sunday camps. Did you get a chance get a chance to go to any other camps this summer?
Khayvon Hawkins: I was at the Iowa camp. It was pretty good experience. There was a lot of competition there. I talked to the wide receiver coach. He said that I did pretty good. I am going to the NDSU camp. I have a UND and a UMD camp.
Gopher Hole: Do you feel that you are able to pick some things at each camp that you can incorporate into your game to make yourself a better player?
Khayvon Hawkins: Yes. Of course. The coach just told me now that if I can get more explosive with my first two or three steps, then I would be even better and keep it smoother, I would be a little bit better than I am right now.
Gopher Hole: What schools are you hearing from right now?
Khayvon Hawkins: UND said that they were pretty serious about offering me. I just have to go to their camp, so they can actually check me out. Iowa seems pretty interested in me right now. I have been talking to the NDSU wide receiver coach a lot on Facebook.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers?
Khayvon Hawkins: He just keeps telling me to keep working. He tells me that I am great athlete. He tells me to keep working.
Gopher Hole: You lost some good players at Cooper like Malik Rucker, who is headed to Iowa and some others. What are the expectations for the upcoming season?
Khayvon Hawkins: I think that we will do all right. We can hold up our ends. We are going through a rebuilding stage, because we lost a lot of seniors like you said. We just have to keep working through the summer and we should end up pretty good this year.
Gopher Hole: Are you playing any other sports at Cooper?
Khayvon Hawkins: Winter time, no. I just lift and go to the Plymouth Dome to keep working on football. In spring, I was going to try lacrosse. Keep my contact up.
Gopher Hole: Do you come from an athletic family?
Khayvon Hawkins: My sister played basketball and ran track. My brother played football for a year, but he really didn’t like it. They don’t play sports in college.
Gopher Hole: What things are you really working on to continue to improve yourself as a player?
Khayvon Hawkins: I know that I have to hit the weight room because I been able to hit the 225 (bench press) here yet. I just have to keep working on my speed and hopefully get my 40 time down a little. The agility test. Do a couple of squats. Get my broad (jump) up. Just keep working hard.
Gopher Hole: What did you test on the 40 yard dash here?
Khayvon Hawkins: They clocked me at 4.89.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a receiver?
Khayvon Hawkins: I would definitely say that my routes are my strengths. I feel that those are very smooth and my hands are reliable most of the time. I think that my game is fluid and I think that I am a pretty good receiver.