Peoria, Ill — It’s a first for Bradley Basketball.
Former Braves shooting guard Hersey Hawkins is now a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
The announcement was made on Sunday. We had the chance to speak with Hawkins on Wednesday.
“Of the schools that were recruiting me, it pretty much came down to Illinois State and Bradley”, said Hawkins while speaking on WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan” show Wednesday.
Hawkins says he wanted to stay close to home when he made his choice of college basketball programs back in the 1980’s.
He said, “Bradley didn’t get into the recruiting process until late and the only reason they did is because my high school coach and Dick Versace were good friends.”
Hawkins is the all-time leading scorer in Bradley and MVC history, ranking 10th in the NCAA record book with 3,008 career points.
The nation’s leading scorer in the NCAA as a senior with 36.3 points per game, Hawkins was named the consensus National Player of the Year in 1987-88.
Hawkins went on to play in the NBA for 12 years.
He played for a handful of teams, including the Phildelphia 76’ers, Charlotte Hornets, Seattle Supersonics, as well as the Chicago Bulls.
