Schuckman: Emotion hits Hawkins leading up to second home debut as QU men’s basketball coach

QUINCY — Every version of the national anthem is unique and different.

Singers with big, booming voices tend to drag out high notes, especially at the top of their vocal range. Nervous singers hurry through it, praying they don’t forget a word or miss a note and fight just to finish.

Steve Hawkins would have appreciated a nervous nelly singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” on Wednesday night.

Back in the gym where he coached his first collegiate game more than 30 years ago — it was known as Memorial Gym then and Pepsi Arena now — Hawkins lined up alongside the Quincy University men’s basketball players and his coaching staff and felt the emotion of the moment surrounding him.

“We needed that national anthem to be hurried just a little bit,” said Hawkins, who began his second stint as the Hawks’ head coach with an 88-51 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange University. “When that was going, I started thinking about all the games we’ve had in here and how many times I’ve heard that national anthem in this gym.

“I could feel the lump in the throat, so I was like, ‘Pick up the tempo, band.’”

The anthem did end rather timely, and the Trojans’ starting lineup was introduced as Hawkins stood at the north end of the floor and tried to quell the emotions and get his bearings.

“The hype video started, and for a minute, that feeling was still there,” Hawkins said. “By the time we got to the starting lineup, it was gone.”

Everything at that point became about his players and the game.

And the outcome proved more favorable this time around.

Hawkins coached at Quincy from 1991-2000, leaving to become an assistant coach at Western Michigan University, where he eventually would be the head coach for 17 seasons. His first season with the Hawks they opened with five consecutive road games and didn’t play at home until Dec. 4, 1991.

Northeast Missouri State — now known as Truman State — spoiled Hawkins’ first home debut with an 80-77 victory as Todd Sigel’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer spun out after rolling around the rim twice.

Hawkins had to wait two more games for his first victory as the Hawks ended a season-opening seven-game skid by beating Missouri-St. Louis 84-81.

He knows infinitely more about coaching and the game now than he did then when his first QU team finished with an 8-20 record.

“He knows so much about basketball,” senior forward Malik Hardmon said. “Man, he really knows his stuff.”

Better yet, Hawkins knows how to take that knowledge and impart it on his players. The Hawks are soaking up as much of that knowledge as possible and using the lessons learned to change the culture and catapult the Hawks into the upper echelon of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

It will take time, but they have bought all-in to what Hawkins wants and demands.

“He’s amazing,” junior guard Zion Richardson said. “I love him to death. He really pushes us as a player’s coach, which you don’t often find in the business of NCAA coaches. He’s a great, great coach and an even better person. He’s really good at leading us and we take heed to what he has to say.”

So much of what is being said right now revolves around consistency, performance and staying the course.

Wednesday night’s emotions could have taken the Hawks off course, but Hawkins wouldn’t allow it.

Winning in Pepsi Arena, a place he’s always felt at home, means too much to let that happen.