LAS CRUCES, N.M. - In an up-and-down season, it seemed that Justin Hawkins was the only constant in 2007-08.
The New Mexico State University senior forward finished the season with eight double-doubles, averaging just over 18 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. When the shorthanded Aggies struggled through a brutal non-conference schedule, Hawkins had back-to-back double-double efforts to start the year, in road losses at Ohio and Duke.
The long-awaited debut of freshman Herb Pope didn't occur until Jan. 19 against Louisiana Tech, which meant the Aggies only had a full compliment of players for the last 16 games of the season. NMSU was 12-4 in those games.
Hawkins hit his stride as the Aggies hit theirs, scoring in double figures in the last 15 games of the season.
"I'm proud of what we accomplished," Hawkins said. "There was a lot of things against us at the beginning of the year and once the conference came, we got going. I'm disappointed that we didn't make it to the tournament my senior year, since I made it every other year that I've been in college."
Hawkins played at Utah before transferring to NMSU.
Fellow senior Fred Peete came on later in the season as he emerged as the most consistent and capable player at the point guard position. Peete averaged 6.5 assists against just two turnovers in the final 10 games, beginning with a career high 12 assists against Boise State on Feb. 9.
Hawkins described the mood in the locker room following the Aggies' 107-102 triple overtime loss on Saturday to Boise State as depressing.
"The game was just exhausting," said Hawkins, who played 47 minutes against Boise State. "I just kept going over the game in my mind, but now I have just put it to rest. I didn't shoot the ball that well so I just think about things that I could have done."
Hindsight is 20-20, but there were a handful of games the Aggies could have won, including the season opener at Ohio. There was North Texas on Dec. 1, when the Aggies blew a big second-half lead at home. Both UTEP games were winnable, so a split would be a realistic possibility, and then the Aggies were blown out on the islands against Hawaii on Jan. 31.
That's four potential wins, and the Aggies could still be playing this weekend.
Following Saturday's loss, NMSU head coach Marvin Menzies said he believed the Aggies should gain a Postseason NIT bid with a 21-14 record, a conference co-championship and an appearance in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.
Ultimately, the Aggies' Ratings Percentage Index score of 124 and the WAC's 20, did them and other WAC teams in. Nevada had the league's highest RPI ranking, but the Wolf Pack were also on the outside looking in. Only Utah State, which was the top seed in the conference tournament, got in via the automatic berth that came with the No. 1 seed.
"I watched it (the NIT selection show on Sunday) by myself," Hawkins said. "I felt like if we would have got in the tournament, we could have played with anybody that got in. I feel that way about the NCAA Tournament too."
Nevada did accept a post season bid to the inaugural 16-team College Basketball Invitational, but the tournament and its $50,000 guaranteed fee to host, was not in the cards for NMSU coaches, players and the administration.
Menzies polled the players to gauge their interest level in the first-year tournament on Sunday. When Hawkins spoke with Menzies, the only team that had accepted a bid was Texas-El Paso.
"There were some positives and some negatives and in the long run, the positives didn't outweigh the negatives and he thought it was time for us seniors at least, to focus on the next thing," Hawkins said.
For Hawkins, the next thing is a pre-draft camp for invited college seniors in Virginia the first weekend of April. Hawkins is returning to California today to work out and prepare after hiring an agent in the last few days. He said he is working with his teachers to take classes online, but he has been hoping to land an NBA roster spot since he started playing the game.
While Hawkins, Peete and the other three Aggies seniors move on, Menzies is already preparing for the future. On Tuesday, Menzies returned to the recruiting trail.
Such is life in college basketball.
Jason Groves can be reached at jgroves@lcsun-news.com
