Zyon Hawthorne, left, and his brother, Braydon, grew up in West Virginia but both were always Kentucky fans. (Walter Hawthorne Photo)
Zyon Hawthorne, a 6-foot-2 combo guard, averaged 11.2 points, 7.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game during his senior season at Huntington Prep and was a 1,000-point scorer in high school.
However, another number that jumps out about the recent Kentucky signee is 4.25 — his cumulative high school grade-point average — and he says he’s always taken pride in his academic work.
“One day the balls will stop bouncing and that’s all you have,” Hawthorne said about his academics. “My dad definitely didn’t play about our grades. That started from a young age, so it’s always something I’ve taken pride in.”
Zyon’s brother, Braydon Hawthorne, also plays at Kentucky and redshirted last season. The brothers, who grew up UK fans in West Virginia, both made it clear they wanted to play for coach Mark Pope and UK no matter what their roles might be.
“I’ve always taught them basically that hard work pays off,” Walter Hawthorne, the brothers’ father, said. “Nothing is given to you. Anything that you do in life, you have to work hard for it. Even on the basketball court, nothing is given to you or shouldn’t be. That’s why I also emphasized working hard in the classroom. Nothing’s given.
“Work hard. That’s always been my motto to them growing up. Work extremely hard and then work harder than the next person. I think that’s why they were super competitive growing up about their grades and other stuff.”
Zyon only made one B in high school. He got all A’s except for one pottery class.
“He had honors courses in English, math and all those things and then he made a B in pottery of all things,” Walter Hawthorne said. “I told him not to take the pottery class but he wanted to take it. I give him down the road all the time about that pottery class.”
4 Responses
Zyon Hawthorne is a underrated point guard. He has a high IQ. To average 7+ assist per game in high school is very hard. Most people look at players PPG averages and think they can determine how great a player will be. That's not the case with Zyon. He's a pass first point guard who never hardly shot the ball and still averaged 11 ppg. He's very efficient and you can guarantee that he will find the open man. Players like him are hard to find because most players love to score and will shoot rather than pass the ball to the open man. Zyon is a great teammate with a high IQ. He will be battling Mason Williams for the backup point guard spot. We finally have enough point guards on the team. He is actually ready as long as he keeps working hard and stays humble. His time is coming. I was also a big fan of Braydon Hawthorne. I think if Pope could do it over he wouldn't have redshirted last year. I actually think he would have helped the team more than JJ did. I think his numbers would have been similar to JJ but Hawthorne is a better rebounder and about the same as JJ as far as shooting goes but Hawthorne is taller and longer and the shots that JJ struggled with getting off Hawthorne wouldn't have had no problems getting those shots off. Both Hawthornes can shoot the 3 but both need to work on there shot. Mason Williams is more of a bowling ball PG kinda like Lamont Butler. His game almost mimics Butlers game. Zyon is more of a traditional PG in the sense he's a better shooter than Williams and he facilitates more for his teammates. Both freshman point guards will be good ball players. Both should get better every year in college. Zyon could have signed with a smaller school and started this year. The same goes for Braydon last year. With the rule change no longer will players get redshirted. Pope was going to take the redshirt off Braydon last year but he was hurt in practice right before this happened. I'm anxious to see Braydon get on the court this year. I think he will surprise some people about how good he really is and he made the ultimate sacrifice by taking a redshirt last year. He could have signed with West Virginia and probably been the 6th or 7th man on the team. Thanks to both brothers for coming to Kentucky we welcome y'all with open arms. Now like poppa said it's time to work work then work harder.
Interesting note Moreno has decided not be in part of scrimmage at the NBA combine this week. Is this a sign of coming back? Also, it stated that his draft pick has took a turn back to 2nd round by per experts.
Kepnang has been clear to play next season just announce today. That's good news.
If that's the case, I hope Pope will run more offense through the post on the block. Last year, Pope rarely had the ball go in to Moreno or Jelavic down low, but when it did, it was usually a score.