Atlantic native Ryan Hawkins is soaking up the joy of a third NCAA Division II National Championship with the Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team. The Bearcats finished off an incredible season this past Saturday with an emphatic 80-54 win over West Texas A&M in the title game. The Bearcats stormed through three wins during four days at the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana. Hawkins said he enjoys the quick turnaround format of the Elite Eight setup.

Hawkins has always had a strong support system behind him and he loves seeing all the familiar faces that come to his games. That aspect was especially tough this year with COVID restrictions in place for the team.

Hawkins is very grateful they got the chance to get the season in and finish out unlike last year but he did miss the atmosphere that larger fan capacity brings to the game.

Ryan was named Most Outstanding Player at the Elite Eight. He scored a game-high 31 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the championship game. He has now accumulated 2,098 points and 948 rebounds for his career. He intends to return next season and take advantage of his added year of eligibility. We’ll have more on that next week on KJAN.