Corey Hawkins considers Philly to be home

One didn't lead directly to the other, the family tale of how Charles Barkley was one of the first people to hold a newborn Corey Hawkins in the hospital, and Barkley's hospital touch had nothing to do with Corey developing a great shooting touch or Corey eventually becoming one of the great current three-point shooters in NCAA hoops.

Except there is a tie. That hospital was in Philadelphia and Barkley was there because the baby was the son of his teammate and friend, Hersey Hawkins. And if the son grew up to be a shooter, well, Sixers fans should remember that much about Hersey Hawkins, too. He still is the franchise's third all-time three-point shooter.

Corey Hawkins wasn't here long. His dad, with the Sixers for five seasons, was traded before Corey got to grade school. But the son still considers Philly to be home of sorts, even when he grew up to be the all-time high school scorer in the state of Arizona (3,164 points). Maybe because the Sixers were Corey's father's first team, they still are Corey's team. He uses "we" in talking about them, as in this sentence he said last week, "I know we just traded our players."

"I tease Corey about that, he's always running around with his Eagles hat and his Sixers gear," said Jim Les, his coach at the University of California Davis.

Les is another tie to Hersey Hawkins. They were teammates at Bradley University before each went on to the NBA. When Corey Hawkins was looking for a place to transfer after an unsatisfying freshman season at Arizona State, his father called Les.

"I've known Corey since he was 4 years old," Les said over the phone. "I know the character of that family, and his upbringing. Throw that in with the fact that he's awfully talented and awfully skilled, I thought that was great to build on. If he was going to come here, he could put us on a fast track."

That's the way it has played out. UC Davis was a strong Division II program, winning the D-II national title in 1998, but moved up to D-I a decade ago and began playing in the Big West Conference in 2007-08. Before this season, it had yet to make it above .500 in the conference.

This season, the Aggies are 11-1 in the Big West and 21-4 overall. The biggest reason: Corey Hawkins. The 6-foot-3 senior guard is averaging 20.8 points a game. His 52.8 percent on three-pointers is second in D-I hoops. (A rare 0 for 3 by Hawkins Saturday dropped him to second. The leader is at 52.9 percent). Of the top dozen long-range shooters in the nation, Hawkins is the only one averaging more than 13 points a game. Of the top 40, he's the only one averaging more than 20 a game.

"He's one of the most efficient big-time scorers I've ever been around," said Les, who participated in training camp with the Sixers in 1987 before catching on with other teams. "From (2-point range) he's over 50 percent. He has a knack for getting the ball in the basket. He has the mid-range game. He can get to the basket, take a beating, make plays. He has one of the best floater games I've seen."

Anything you see on the court, Corey said, "is a replica of my dad. He really started it all for me, from shooting, for being a small guard getting to the basket." He said he tries to replicate his dad in how he carries himself. And that floater? It came from dad.

"That saved a lot of injuries," Corey said. "When you're getting in there, going against tall guys," letting the shot go "before you get to the trees."

Hersey Hawkins now is director of player programs for the Portland Trail Blazers. Before his 13-year NBA career, Hersey scored 3,008 points at Bradley University, one of only eight D-I players in history to make it over 3,000. The only father-son duo to score more than Hersey and Corey in Division I is the Currys, Dell and Stephen, the only pair where both father and son have made it over 2,000. Right now, Corey is at 1,587 points since he only had 49 in his season at Arizona State.

Corey's own basketball hero, non-family division, goes back to Philadelphia. Because of his father, he said, he got to meet Allen Iverson a couple of times. He can remember acting like Iverson when he was a little guy shooting at a Fisher-Price hoop in the house. He loved the attitude, the chip on the shoulder, the flash.

"He really started my love for basketball," Hawkins said of Iverson.

Enough evidence is in: Philly will claim this guy as a proud adopted son.

"I think that's where it all started," he said.