Coach J. B. Hawkins
Crawford County’s Hall of Fame Coach: J. B. Hawkins
By Billy Powell
Crawford County, over the years, has been known for its outstanding sports teams, both basketball and football, but the county also boasts of another distinction. Living in Roberta, Georgia, is one of the greatest high school basketball coaches in Georgia history, a true “Hall of Fame” coach. His name is J. B. Hawkins. Coach Hawkins is numbered among an elite group of high school basketball coaches--those who have won a thousand games. In fact, only four other coaches in Georgia history have accomplished this feat. What is so amazing is that Coach Hawkins’ teams have won approximately 70 percent of their games in the heartland of Georgia basketball where the talent level was high from team to team. After graduating from the University of Georgia, Coach Hawkins, a Murray County native, became head basketball coach at Bowdon, Georgia, for seven years, from 1948-1955. In 1955, he moved to Roberta to assume the reigns of the Crawford County basketball program. He remained in that capacity for 25 years, from 1955 until 1980, at which time he became athletic director. The basketball legend’s first act as athletic director was to start a football program.
Coaching one high school sport is difficult enough, but Coach Hawkins took on the arduous and time-splitting task of coaching both boys and girls basketball. During a stellar 32-year career, he coached girls for 28 years and boys for 32 years. His won-loss records in coaching two major sports were phenomenal: girls’ teams: 425-287 and boys’ teams: 649-293. Amazingly, his teams collectively won an amazing 1074 games. For this accomplishment, Coach Hawkins was named to the ‘Thousandaire Club,” a prestigious honor bestowed by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, which also recognized him as the “fourth winningest high school basketball coach” in Georgia history. These “Lifetime Achievement Awards” are especially significant since Coach Hawkins’ wins came not in the talent-limited private school sector, but in the talent-rich hotbed of public school basketball where competition is strong across the board.
Equally amazing is the fact that Coach Hawkins took 19 teams to the Georgia High School State Tournament. Every year, when state tournament time rolled around, it was time to dust off and reserve a bench for the Crawford County Eagles because Coach Hawkins would surely bring them there. His Crawford County boys’ basketball team captured the state class ‘C’ crown in 1969 and came in second in state competition twice, in 1960 and 1963. The starters on the 1969 state championship team were his son, John “Chuck” Hawkins, Harry Moore, Robert Causey, Al McGhee, and Terry Hunt. Two of Crawford County’s most famous basketball players were John Mathews (1960 team), who played at the University of Georgia, and Kenny Walker (1982), who played at the University of Kentucky and professionally with the New York Knicks.
Other notable awards were: (1) Class ‘C’ Coach of the Year, seven times, (2) coached the Georgia South All-Star team in 1969, and (3) the state of Georgia nominated him for “National Basketball Coach of the Year” in 1980.
Moreover, in honor of his many significant and lasting contributions to Crawford County High School, its athletic complex, in 1999, was named the “J.B. Hawkins Sports Complex.” Additionally, Crawford County’s annual Christmas basketball classic was named the “J B. Hawkins Christmas Tournament.”
The crowning achievements of Coach Hawkins’ career were his induction into: (1) the Murray County Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, (2) the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004, and (3) his nomination to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
Coach Hawkins and his wife of 61 years, the former Mae Patterson of Dadeville, Alabama, have two children, both medical doctors renowned in their respective professions: Dr. John “Chuck” Hawkins, a Macon cardiologist, (wife: Kathy) and Dr. Jennifer Allen, a Macon dermatologist (married to Dr. Bruce Allen). J .B. and Mae Hawkins have four grandchildren: Dr. Lindsey Hawkins Lefler-a pediatrics resident in Portland, Oregon, Greer Hawkins-working toward a Master’s Degree in Public Health at UGA, Jean Hawkins-a junior at Auburn, and Blake Allen-a junior at Harvard University.
John Barrett Hawkins was born September 9, 1921, to Lester and Sally Hawkins, in Whitfield County, Georgia. He graduated from Murray County High School in 1938, where he ran track and played basketball. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II in the South Pacific Theater. After the war, he attended Berry College and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1948. Active in civic and church affairs, he served as deacon at the Roberta Baptist Church for 45 years (where he was Sunday School Superintendent and Teacher) and is the Charter President of the Roberta Lions Club. In 1980, the City of Roberta honored him by observing “J. B. Hawkins Day.”
Coach Hawkins was a “Coaches’ Coach,” highly respected by his peers. Former Perry High School coach Eric Staples called him “the consummate basketball strategist who knew how to get the most out of his players.” Former Fort Valley High School coach Norman Faircloth called Hawkins “one of the great basketball coaches of our time,” and observed that “his teams were well coached, well drilled, and always came to play.” The famous coach from Oglethorpe and Macon County, Jimmy Maffett, remarked, “J. B. Hawkins was a fantastic basketball coach and a tough competitor. His teams were not only good, but were always well disciplined and came to play.” Former Macon Telegraph Sports Editor Harley Bowers wrote that “Coach Hawkins’ coaching record at Crawford County is one of the best in the state of Georgia, in fact, one of the best in the nation.” U. S. Senator Sam Nunn stated that “Coach Hawkins not only distinguished himself as one of Georgia's winningest basketball coaches with over one thousand victories, he set an excellent moral example for thousands of young people. Coach Hawkins is a credit to his profession. From the U.S. Army to the basketball arena to his church to his leadership in the Crawford County community, Coach Hawkins set an outstanding example.” In closing, long after the basketballs have ceased to bounce, it was the lessons of life that Coach Hawkins taught and the Christian example he lived that impacted the thousands of young people whose lives he touched.
Crawford County 1969 State Championship Team. Kneeling, L-R: Johnny Pierson, Dicky Scarborough, Ed Hortman, Andy Lowrey, David Williams, Terry Rigdon. Standing, L-R: John “Chuck” Hawkins, Harry Moore, Al McGee, Robert Causey, Terry Hunt, Alan Williams, Bobby Sheets.
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