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PF Harrison Hookfin (Official Thread)

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ScriptOhio

ScriptOhio

Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
HARRISON HOOKFIN

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#42 - FORWARD
  • HEIGHT 6-5
  • WEIGHT 220
  • YEAR FR.
  • HOMETOWN LEBANON, OHIO
  • H.S./LAST SCHOOL LEBANON
AS A FRESHMAN (2018-19)
  • Made first collegiate appearance, playing one minute off the bench against Iowa (2/26)
PRIOR TO OHIO STATE
  • First team All-GWOC South as a senior
  • Scored 14.2 points and grabbed 7.1 rebounds per contest in his final season at Lebanon
PERSONAL
  • Son of Kelly and Erin Hookfin
  • Has three older siblings, Casey and Madison
WHY HARRISON HOOKFIN REFUSES COMPARISONS TO JOEY LANE AND WHY HE'S THE PERFECT HEIR TO OHIO STATE'S WALK-ON THRONE

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Harrison Hookfin hasn’t stopped smiling.

Not since he got a morning text from Ohio State video coordinator Kyle Davis in January that the basketball team he grew up rooting for might be interested in adding him as a walk-on. Not since Chris Holtmann told him in late January, after passing a physical and participating in four practices, that he wanted to officially welcome him to the team. Not since he made his collegiate debut late in the Buckeyes’ 90-70 win against Iowa on Feb. 26.

And definitely not since he experienced the thrill of an NCAA tournament win.

“It does not seem real,” Hookfin told Eleven Warriors a day after the Buckeyes upset Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. “Maybe it will hit me over the summer, but right now, it's just everything's numb.”

Two years ago, Hookfin knew he’d be a Buckeye. He just had no idea – or reason to believe – he’d end up on their roster.

As a junior at Lebanon High School, he averaged 0.9 points per game. He ended the academic year standing 6-foot-1. That summer, he experienced an unexpected growth spurt that shot him up to 6-foot-5, and his game ascended with his body. Hookfin led his team with 14.4 points and 7.3 points per game as a senior.

Maybe he could have played basketball at a Division II or Division III program, but long before adding four inches, he knew where he’d attend college. He applied to one university: Ohio State.

“My entire life, I only wanted to go to Ohio State,” Hookfin said. “That's all I cared about is coming here.”

That aspect of his story – minus the random growth spurt – mirrors the path of former walk-on extraordinaire Joey Lane, who turned down interest from lower-level schools to live out his dream as a Buckeye.

But unlike Lane, who spent all four collegiate years on the team, Hookfin didn’t immediately have a spot. In the months prior to enrolling, his high school coach “found a way” to contact Ohio State’s basketball program, but he began classes without any promise of – or even really any path to – a spot on the roster. That didn’t deter Hookfin, though.

“My entire life, I always tried to stay positive,” Hookfin said. “So I'm always thinking that, 'OK, it's going to happen today. If it doesn't happen today, it's going to happen.'”
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“I have so much family here,” Hookfin said. “I have such history here. I've grown up an Ohio State fan for as long as I can remember. So, you know, it's just a dream come true.”

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...he-perfect-heir-to-ohio-states-walk-on-throne
 
The rankings continue today with Harrison Hookfin.

No. 14 – Harrison Hookfin
Position: Forward

Class: Senior (fourth year)

Height/weight: 6 feet 6 / 195 pounds

Jersey number: 42

Major: Biology

Background
As he entered his senior season at Lebanon, Ohio, playing college basketball was about the furthest thing from Hookfin’s radar. A lightly-used player as a junior, Hookfin had averaged 0.9 points and 0.8 rebounds in 3.6 minutes while appearing in 15 games. His impact changed dramatically during his 2017-18 season, where he burst onto the scene with a 28-point outburst in his first game, blossomed into a first-team all-Greater Western Ohio Conference South Division selection and averaged 14.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game. Hookfin grew four inches that year, and midway through his freshman year at Ohio State he was officially added to the team as a walk-on.
 
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LitlBuck said:
The rankings continue today with Harrison Hookfin.

No. 14 – Harrison Hookfin
Position: Forward

Class: Senior (fourth year)

Height/weight: 6 feet 6 / 195 pounds

Jersey number: 42

Major: Biology

Background
As he entered his senior season at Lebanon, Ohio, playing college basketball was about the furthest thing from Hookfin’s radar. A lightly-used player as a junior, Hookfin had averaged 0.9 points and 0.8 rebounds in 3.6 minutes while appearing in 15 games. His impact changed dramatically during his 2017-18 season, where he burst onto the scene with a 28-point outburst in his first game, blossomed into a first-team all-Greater Western Ohio Conference South Division selection and averaged 14.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in 29.7 minutes per game. Hookfin grew four inches that year, and midway through his freshman year at Ohio State he was officially added to the team as a walk-on.
Click to expand...

2021-22 outlook
With such an experienced, deep roster, Hookfin’s contributions will again come on the scout team and away from the eyes of the public. He’s continued to slim down and add strength during his Ohio State tenure, and that has shown during practices as well as during his appearances in the Kingdom Summer League.

Entering what could be his last season at Ohio State, Hookfin said his improvement has been significant.

“I can say I’m head and shoulders a lot better than I was when I first got here,” Hookfin said of his time so far at Ohio State. “It’s hard not to be with the level of high-quality coaching and strength and conditioning and everything. I’m a lot more confident in myself.”

Those attributes have endeared him to his teammates and coaches and earned him a spot on the roster yet again.

Entire article: https://www.dispatch.com/story/spor...te-mens-basketball-power-rankings/6087994001/
 
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“It took me 100 percent by surprise, I had no idea it was coming,” Hookfin said. “Once he started, kind of towards the end of what he was saying I kind of got a hint of it but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. But then he said it, and a lot of emotions went over me, I really couldn’t believe it. It really didn’t hit me until I got home, I was by myself, and I was really thankful for that moment. But yeah, I had no idea about it.”

It didn’t take long for Hookfin to break the news to his parents, who were in attendance for the game and stayed afterwards to see their son. The revelation might have had a delayed impact on Hookfin himself, but the emotions were more immediate for his family members.

“I went up there and I told them and they were very, very thankful,” Hookfin said. “They couldn’t believe it just like I couldn’t, my mom cried a little bit. It’s a lot of emotions, it’s one of those things that in the moment you can’t believe it, then it hits you later.”

For Hookfin, becoming a scholarship player is an obvious acknowledgement of the work he’s put in for the program and just how far he’s come as a player. But beyond that, the effect of a scholarship is a tangible one for Hookfin and his family.

“It has a huge impact on me financially. … With basketball I’m not able to have a job, so I’ve had to do a lot of saving of my own money over the past years and years, a lot of budgeting and a lot of saying no to going out and eating and saying no to a lot of things just so I can budget and do my own expenses so I can survive,” Hookfin said. “This has helped me and my family out tremendously, so I’m very, very thankful.”

 
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