Stephen Greg Hawkins (born August 3, 1962) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and the former head men's basketball coach at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. He had previously served as the head coach at

Quincy University Quincy University (formerly known as St. Francis Solanus College, and today abbreviated as QU) is a private Franciscan university in Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1860 and enrolls about 1,100 students. History A small group of Franciscan ...

Background

Hawkins was born in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

. Following his graduation from high school, Hawkins spent time as a high school basketball coach in the

Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

Villanova Preparatory School Villanova Preparatory School (commonly known as Villanova Prep) is an Augustinian Catholic co-ed day and boarding school in Ojai, California, United States. Sitting on more than , the campus contains two dormitories, a chapel, trails, and assort ...

and St. Bonaventure High School during the early 1980s. During this time he worked as an assistant at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

basketball camps, serving as

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

for legendary Bruins coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...

. While the two were stuck in traffic, they were able to talk basketball. Hawkins maintained the UCLA connection during his coaching career, often having Wooden speak to his teams at Quincy and Western Michigan. Former UCLA head coach

Larry Farmer Larry Farmer may refer to: *Larry Farmer (basketball) Larry Farmer (born January 31, 1951) is an American basketball coach and former player. Farmer served as the head basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 198 ...

, would later work for Hawkins as an assistant coach at Western Michigan from 2010–12 and again from 2013 until the present. Hawkins later attended the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1987. From 1984–87 he served as a student assistant to men's basketball head coach Mike Hanks. In 1989 he earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in sports science from the

United States Sports Academy The United States Sports Academy is a private university focused on sports and located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided its ...

. Hawkins served as assistant coach at

from 1987-1988 and 1990-1991 and

St. Andrews Presbyterian College St. Andrews University is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The university was established in 1958 as a result of a merger of Flora MacDonald College in Red Springs and Presbyterian Junior College; it wa ...

in 1989. He was promoted to head coach at Quincy in 1992, and served there for 9 seasons until joining the staff of

Robert McCullum Robert L. McCullum (born June 20, 1954) is an American men's college basketball coach, currently the head men's basketball coach at Florida A&M. He previously served as the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team and the U ...

at Western Michigan in the spring of 2000.

Western Michigan University

Hawkins was named head coach at Western Michigan University on May 1, 2003, following the departure of head coach

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. Hawkins had served as an assistant coach on the WMU staff for the previous three seasons. Under Hawkins, the Broncos have finished no worse than 3rd in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

West Division. The team captured both the MAC regular season championship and conference tournament championship in 2003–04. That squad eventually fell to Vanderbilt in the opening round of the 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Following the 2004–05 season, the Broncos participated in the

2005 National Invitation Tournament The 2005 National Invitation Tournament was the 2005 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. South Carolina defeated Saint Joseph's, 60-57, to earn the program's first NIT title. Selected teams Below is a list of the 40 teams ...

. In 2005 Hawkins was a finalist for the head coaching job at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

that eventually went to

Jerry Wainwright Gerald Charles Wainwright Jr. (born February 11, 1947) is a retired American basketball coach. Wainwright served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC Wilmington) from 1994 to 2002, the Universit ...

. He has also received head coaching offers from the University of San Francisco (2004), the University of Nevada, and Southern Methodist University. He also received interest from Bradley University and Loyola-Chicago. In July 2007, Hawkins was hospitalised for three days following a seizure in his office. Following the 2007–08 basketball season, Hawkins was very critical of the post season basketball tournaments. Despite a 20-win season and a MAC West Division title, WMU was passed over for post season play, including the new

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI s ...

. Following the 2010–11 basketball season, Hawkins coached the Broncos in the

2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament The 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of 24 NCAA Division I teams. The CIT began with 12 first-round games. Four of the teams that won first-round games advanced to the quarterfina ...

. After a victory in the opening round against

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

, the Broncos fell in the second round to MAC rival Buffalo. Following the 2012-13 basketballs season, Hawkins and Broncos participated in the

2013 College Basketball Invitational The 2013 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) was a single-elimination tournament of 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (NCAA), Division I teams that did not participate in the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tour ...

. They won their first 2 games before falling to

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

in the semifinals. The 2013-14 Broncos were one of the most successful of Hawkins' tenure, with a Rainbow Classic Championship, a MAC regular season championship, and a MAC tournament championship. The team made the NCAA tournament, where as a #14 seed they fell in the opening round to #3 seed

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

by a score of 77-53. Following the season, Hawkins was named the 2014 MAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, Western Michigan announced Hawkins would not return, ending his 17-year run as head coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Western Michigan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Steve 1962 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from California College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States People from Ventura, California South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Ventura County, California St. Andrews Knights men's basketball coaches United States Sports Academy alumni University of South Alabama alumni Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball coaches