Hawkins is a small guard who can also run the point effectively. He has good ball-handling skills and can shoot well from beyond the arc, though he has hot and cold streaks. He is also a first-rate on-the-ball defender and displays a tenacity on defense that much of the team has lacked this year.

Though suspended for the team for a month at the beginning of the fall semester, "Hawk" has worked his way out of Bill Self's doghouse and into the regular rotation. Senior swingman Keith Langford's injury heading into the NCAA tournament will give Hawkins a chance to shine, but also put pressure on him to produce some much-needed offense.

Hawkins will walk down the hill in May 2005, but he will enroll as a graduate student and rejoin his teammates for his last year of eligibility in the 2005-2006 season.