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What Minnesota transfer Elijah Hawkins brings to Texas Tech basketball
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- What Minnesota transfer Elijah Hawkins brings to Texas Tech basketball
A big piece to the Texas Tech basketball team's 2024-25 roster has fallen into place.
Point guard Elijah Hawkins has committed to the Red Raiders, multiple outlets reported on Tuesday, first by On3 . Hawkins himself hasn't publicly announced his pledge as of this writing, though has shared social media posts of the news on his personal accounts.
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Hawkins comes to the Red Raiders after spending a very successful junior year at the University of Minnesota. With the Golden Gophers, Hawkins set program records for assists in a season (247), a single game (17) and a postseason game (15). He finished the season tied for second in the nation in assists per game with 7.5.
The 5-foot-11 native of Washington, D.C., becomes the third commitment of the offseason, joining Drake guard Kevin Overton and Pittsburgh center Federiko Federiko , who joined the fold earlier this month. Overton and Federiko have been announced as official signees by Texas Tech.
Suring up the point guard position was a crucial element to the Red Raiders' offseason. Gone are primarily ball handlers from a season ago in Joe Toussaint (exhausted eligibility) and Pop Isaacs (who committed to Creighton over the weekend). While the multi-talented Darrion Williams and Overton will likely handle some of those responsibilities, as well, Hawkins brings a true floor general to Lubbock.
Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Elijah Hawkins (0) celebrates after forcing a turnover against the Indiana Hoosiers during the first half at Williams Arena.
Before setting records at Minnesota, Hawkins spent his first two years at Howard, starting 55 of 59 games and leading the Bison to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the program's first in 31 years. This past season, Hawkins started all 33 games he appeared in for the Golden Gophers, averaging 33.3 minutes per contest. He averaged 9.5 points and 2.6 rebounds, came up with 54 steals and shot 39% from the floor, 36% from 3-point range and 78% from the free throw line.
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Along with new additions Hawkins, Overton and Federiko, the Red Raiders are slated to return Williams, Chance McMillian, Kerwin Walton, Devin Cambridge and Eemeli Yalaho as scholarship players. A pair of walk-ons in Jack Francis, a fellow returner, and Jazz Henderson are also in the fold.
Players have until midnight Eastern on Wednesday to enter their names into the transfer portal but can take as long as they wish to decide on their next destination.
Texas Tech will have five scholarship places to play with to fill out the rest of the 2024-25 roster.
UP TO DATE: Texas Tech basketball transfer portal tracker: Who's in, who's out for Red Raiders?
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Minnesota transfer Elijah Hawkins commits to Texas Tech basketball
