Big Ten Basketball: Each team’s best acquisition out of 2023 transfer portal

Elijah Hawkins -5’11 Point Guard – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Point guard Elijah Hawkins joins the Minnesota Golden Gophers rotation as the final best addition out of the transfer portal in the Big Ten after building up quite the resume for himself in the MEAC with the Howard Bison. He joins the Golden Gophers as quite the dynamic playmaker to get to know heading into a new season.

Hawkins is a two-time All-MEAC selection as well as the 2021-22 MEAC Rookie of the Year after producing 12.9 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.7 rpg and 2.0 spg while shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range and 40.7 percent from the field. He’s an efficient floor general that knows how to make an impact on the floor. He finished with the 10th-best PER (17.9) in the MEAC this past season, showing he’s the consummate playmaker on the floor.

He dished out a career-high 13 assists back on Jan. 21, 2023 against Morgan State in an 88-56 route this past season. He also finished with seven points and three steals in that one.

Hawkins does well to control the pace/tempo of the game with his ability to find others quickly in space. He led the MEAC the past two seasons in total assists (157 & 185), seeing an increase across both seasons.

On the scoring front, he set his career-high mark of 23 points back on Feb. 21, 2022 against Coppin State in an 86-82 loss. He went 8-of-16 from the field while dishing out seven assists, snagging five rebounds and swiping four steals.

He’s not shy about playing defense and making his presence felt there, that’s for sure. He finished third in the MAC in total steals (64) in 2021-22 and sixth in the conference in total steals (53) in 2022-23.

Look for Hawkins to turn things around with Dawson Garcia in the pick-and-roll/pop game with his shiftiness in handling the ball. He’ll also have Mike Mitchell Jr. out of Pepperdine to work as well as other forward’s returning in Pharrel Payne and Joshua Ola-Joseph.