D-II star Ryan Hawkins finishes with dream season at Creighton

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Creighton's Ryan Hawkins is leading a charmed life as a basketball player, and he would be the first to tell you.

No school except tiny Wayne State in Nebraska recruited him out of high school, and he planned to go there until a coaching change gave him an out.

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He landed at Division II powerhouse Northwest Missouri State, which took a chance on the awkward, skinny 6-foot-7 kid from Iowa and developed him into one of the top players in program history. The Bearcats won three national championships in his five years there.

Now look at him. He's finishing his sixth year as a collegian as the undisputed leader of a new-look Creighton team that overachieved after being picked eighth in the 11-team Big East. The Bluejays (22-11) finished fourth, reached the championship game of the conference tournament and earned the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Midwest Region. They will play eighth-seeded San Diego State (23-8) in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday.

"I’ve exceeded my wildest dreams," the 24-year-old Hawkins said.

Providence's Justin Minaya, right, protects the ball from Creighton's Ryan Hawkins (44) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big East men's tournament Friday, March 11, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Of nine Division II players who transferred to schools in the six major basketball conferences for 2021-22, none has made close to the impact Hawkins has at Creighton.

He leads the Bluejays in scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) and was voted to the All-Big East second team after recording a