Photo courtesy of Tarleton Athletics
Josh Hawley is no stranger to success within the Tarleton State University Texan’s basketball team. Hawley not only played in, but started all 30 games last season. He was also named second team All-Lone Star Conference and to the LSC all-defensive team according to Tarleton Athletics. Along with those accolades, Hawley was named the team’s most valuable player and defensive MVP for the season; he scored 13.7 points per game and led the team with 9.3 rebounds per game which ranked third in the Lone Star Conference. 

Along with being the second highest scorer on the team. In the last season Hawley was described by Lone Star Conference officials as a “defensive anchor.” Hawley had a career high of 17 rebounds which led to Hawley being named LSC Defensive player of the week three times. 

Hawley comes from Irving, Texas where growing up he described himself as an “all sports type of guy, that just fell in love with basketball,” Hawley said. In his youth he played soccer and was a standout at Irving MacArthur High School in both track and basketball lettering three years. 

Although Hawley felt out his options at other schools such as McNeese State in Louisiana, Long Beach in New York, and several others, the decision to commit to Tarleton was an easy one after his official visit. 

“I just fell in love with Tarleton at first sight, it is such a beautiful campus and once they get done doing construction it is going to be even more beautiful,” said Hawley. 

Hawley made the decision to redshirt his freshman year in the 2015-16 season. Hawley saw this as a chance to get an extra year under his belt in order to work out and catch up to the older members on the team. 

“It was a good chance at the time to learn the game more and gain a better understanding of it,” said Hawley. 

Hawley’s expectations for this season are high and coming in at first is his first priority. Hawley expects the team to come in first in their conference and be very highly ranked in the nation. As for himself, Hawley expects to be the best he can be and hopefully that leads to being named All American. “I want to do what I can to help my team win, I believe winning comes first and stats come second,” Hawley stated. 

In order to have a successful team, a lot of camaraderie and communication is necessary and this is something that Hawley feels will come easy as the team is very family oriented and close. 

Hawley tries to mirror his game after Kevin Durant, who plays for the Golden State Warriors. The score first mentality that he possesses is something that Hawley admires along with the fact that he is not only scoring but is rebounding and contributing to the team in ways that people don’t even notice. Along with Durant, Hawley admires John Wall of the Washington Wizards and his aggressiveness and the fact that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get the win.  

The return of Hawley to the team helped the Texan’s to be picked to finish third in the annual Lone Star Conference (LSC) preseason poll. The Texan’s went 19-11 on their last season and finished third in the LSC with a record of 12-6 in conference play. 

According to Tarleton Athletics, head coach, Chris Reisman, feels that the ranking is a fair overall look for the conference, but also stated “as it is every year, the Lone Star is unpredictable; there’s going to be plenty of great coaches and players and it’s going to be another exciting year in the LSC,” Reisman stated.