FENTON FEATURE: Massasoit’s Ty Hawkins Named the National Division 3 Player of the Year

by Jim Fenton, The Enterprise

BROKTON, Mass. ---- This has been a week that Massasoit Community College women's basketball standout Ty Hawkins will long remember.

The sophomore guard on Wednesday was announced as the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 3 player of the year after breaking the Warriors' single-season scoring record.

Hawkins is the first Massasoit athlete in any sport to be chosen the national player of the year.

The 2018 graduate of Brentwood High School on Long Island, New York, also revealed Wednesday that she will be playing the next two seasons at Adelphi University, a nationally ranked NCAA Division 2 program in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Earlier in the week, Hawkins was selected to the NJCAA Division 3 All-America first team, becoming the first Massasoit player to receive that honor. Four other Warriors women's basketball players were All-America picks, but not on the first team.

Hawkins scored the most points of any junior college players in Divisions 1, 2 or 3, and her 777 points broke the Massasoit record of 667 established in the 2010-11 season by Alison Hardiman, of Whitman. She led the Warriors in a 24-1 season with the lone loss coming in the national tourney quarterfinal round.

"I'm pretty shocked, but it's kind of cool when you think about it,″ said Hawkins of being the national player of the year. "It still feels surreal, to be honest with you. I really wasn't expecting it, but I'm grateful that it happened and it wouldn't have happened without everyone around me.″

Hawkins, who averaged 27 points as a senior at Brentwood High, went to Jones County Community College in Ellisville, Mississippi, in 2018-19 where she was a reserve on a Division 1 team.

She decided to transfer and made a connection with Massasoit through coach Mark Leszczyk, who had recruited Hawkins during her senior year of high school when he was coaching at Roxbury Community College.

Hawkins and her family visited the Brockton campus last summer and she enrolled as a business major.

In 25 games, Hawkins averaged 31.1 points on 51 percent shooting to go with 5.8 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Massasoit won its second Region 21 championship, and Hawkins was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

"For everything we all accomplished this season, we just wanted to put ourselves in a position to win and just keep going,″ said Hawkins. "We lost one game, but it still doesn't take away from what we did all year. I'm happy with how everything went.

"We were an up-and-down (running) team. We liked to push the ball. We liked to play some hard defense and just get after everybody.″

The 5-foot-4 Hawkins is glad that she landed at Massasoit for one year. She has excelled in the classroom and on the basketball court. She made a smooth transition after the year in Mississippi.

"I just felt when I left my other school, it just wasn't for me,″ said Hawkins. "I just needed to find something else and a program where it could be for me. I found Massasoit. I had to earn everything I got. We all did.

"I went (to Massasoit) mainly because of Mark. He's really a good guy. He really cares about you and your career as much as you do and as much as your family does.

"I'm just happy with everything we did together, the coaching staff and the team. Mark is already a legend. For us to be successful and help put the team on the map, now the next team can come in and say, 'Hey, this can happen.‴

Leszczyk, who completed his second season at Massasoit, first saw Hawkins play during the spring of 2018. He went with assistant coach Kisandra Ayanbeku to a showcase event in Brooklyn for high school players who had not found a college program.

Hawkins was one of three players who stood out to Leszczyk and Ayanbeku, and they tried to get her to play at Roxbury. The two coaches began at Massasoit in the 2018-19 season, and after Hawkins left Jones County, the connection was made.

Leszczyk knew he was adding a special player this season, and Hawkins exceeded his expectations.

"She really took off this year,″ he said. "The numbers speak for themselves. The best thing about Ty is she put up huge numbers, but she did it unselfishly. Ty's a teammate first. That's the most impressive thing about her.

"She has no problem dishing the ball off to a teammate. She's not all about getting her numbers. A lot of kids are all about getting their numbers. I wish I had more time with her because she was just a pleasure to coach.″

Hawkins will be joining an Adelphi team that was 27-3 and ranked 11th in the NCAA Division 2 poll this season. The Panthers, coached by Bishop Feehan High graduate Missy Traversi, were the top seed in the East Regional before it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Adelphi is about half an hour from Hawkins' hometown of Brentwood.

"I can get better at a lot of things,″ said Hawkins. "I'm not perfect. There are parts of the game I can improve on. I can do way better. I can play at a higher level.″

Adelphi has a similar style as Massasoit's, with an up-tempo offense and pressure defense.

"I think she's going to have a great career there,″ said Leszczyk. "She can get better because she has the work ethic. Ty works hard. A lot of it comes natural, but she also puts a lot of work in.

"She is the prototypical first kid in the gym, last kid to leave. You hear that a lot, but with her, it's true. Whenever I would walk into the gym to start my day, there was Ty taking shots. She's always working on her game. She has that little chip on her shoulder because she was under-recruited and I think she still carries that with her.″

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.