Hawkins Attracting Eyes, Offers at Camps
Park WR’s Speed Drawing Interest From Colleges
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WHEELING -- It's no secret that Jerrae Hawkins is fast, his state titles in the 100 and 200-meter dashes from last month's State Track Meet are a testament to that. Just how fast he really is can be surprising, however, even to him.
While attending a football camp at Ohio State last week, the Wheeling Park rising junior was clocked as running the 40-yard dash in 4.25 seconds.
"I was kind of surprised," Hawkins admitted after seeing the time. "I knew it was going to be fast because a couple days before that I ran a 4.31 at WVU. I knew I'd be close to the 4.2s, but I didn't know I'd be able to get (that low)."
"We had an idea, but I don't think any of us have really envisioned a 4.25," Wheeling Park coach Chris Daugherty said. "That's a pretty significant 40 time, I don't care how old you are. That's saying something for him to pop that off."
That kind of speed is hard to ignore and it drew the eyes of several of the coaches in attendance.
"A lot of people were surprised," Hawkins said. "(University of) Akron coaches came to talk to me afterwards and the Ohio State coaches came to talk to me."
Hawkins, a wide receiver and return specialist for the Patriots, has been busy since the school year ended, attending camps at West Virginia, Penn State and Ohio State. At these camps, Hawkins said that the coaches typically run physical tests first, then the campers move into drills in their position groups before finishing with 1-on-1 drills against defensive players.
He's seemingly impressed everywhere he's gone this summer. At West Virginia he spoke with head coach Neal Brown, at Penn State he received a scholarship offer and at Ohio State he ran the aforementioned 4.25.
These camps are important for Hawkins because he missed a large portion of this past high school season with an injury that limited him to just five games. Five games worth of tape is enough to get you noticed, but certainly not as much as colleges would like to see.
"When you only have five football games, you have limited film so you've got to go and prove that small snippet of film is real," Daugherty said. "His speed's what gets him in the door and gets him on their short list. Now it's time to go and show that you're more than just a kid that can run. There's a lot of kids out there that can just run, but they can't catch and their route running's not very good. He's really, really improved his route running just from the end of last year until now."
"As I've been going to these camps and going against top guys, I want to show off my route running," Hawkins added. "Just to show that I'm not just a fast guy."
Penn State was the fifth Division I school to offer Hawkins thus far, joining WVU, Pitt, Old Dominion and Toledo. With an offer from Ohio State on the horizon, Daugherty thinks a college decision could come sooner rather than later for the young Hawkins.
"When you have a Penn State offer, a Pitt offer, a West Virginia offer and Ohio State's close, I don't know what more you would want if you live in Wheeling, West Virginia," he said. "Those are pretty good offers from pretty good football schools and they're all close enough that his family and friends can continue to watch him."
Before he suits up for any college, however, Hawkins still has two more seasons of high school football to get through. It will be important for him to stay healthy and on the field this upcoming season to really show colleges what he is capable of.
Hawkins said his goals for this fall are to gain 2,000 all-purpose yards and contend for things like first team all-state, Gatorade Player of the Year and a Class AAA state championship.
Thankfully he won't be all alone in those endeavors as Park should return several offensive starters alongside Hawkins, including quarterback Brett Phillips.
"You can be a dynamic wide receiver, but if you don't have a capable quarterback that can get it to you, it can be a frustrating situation," Daugherty said. "With Brett coming back, we have no worries that we're going to be able to get the ball to (Hawkins) whether it's sideways or down the field. Whatever we decide, Brett's going to be able to do it and that kind of takes the pressure off of Jerrae."
Hawkins said he probably won't do many more college camps this summer, with only one or two other ones in mind. He's generally been taking the whole process in stride, knowing he has plenty of time before decision day comes.
"When I start going on my official visits (next April), then I'll start picking my top five schools and go from there," Hawkins said. "Right now, it's been fun just meeting new people and seeing how these big schools work."