Cousins Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins are National Champions

For LSU’s Angel Reese and UConn’s Jordan Hawkins, their National Championship wins have been a long time coming. The two players grew up together as cousins in Maryland and recently won national title on the basketball court but their basketball journeys don’t stop there.

Cousins from Maryland, Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins were crowned National Champions, proving that talent runs in the family.

The two cousins won national titles in consecutive days.

Known as the Baybou Barbie, Reese and the LSU Tigers secured the 2023 Women’s March Madness Tournament victory over Iowa with a score of 102-85. Her cousin, UConn guard Jordan Hawkins, won the Men’s National Championship over San Diego State with a score of 76-59 the next day.

Cousins Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins are National Champions

Reese faced criticism for her celebrations made towards Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, but Hawkins was quick to defend his cousin. After winning the championship, Hawkins said, “Angel has the heart of a lion. She’s not worried about any of that. She’s from the dirty streets of Baltimore, so she’s the toughest of the toughest. That’s not anything to her.”

The cousins grew up together in Maryland, 42 miles apart, with Reese in Baltimore and Hawkins in Gaithersburg. Their national title wins are a culmination of the long journeys that they have been on.

Hawkins talked about the significance of winning for the kids in Maryland in a post-game celebration, saying, “This is for all the kids from Gaithersburg, Maryland, that didn’t think they could do it. I did it. Now you can do it, man. Me and Angel paved the way. We did it,” to a CBS reporter.

Reese and Hawkins have been playing together since they were kids. Hawkins even admitted that Reese could outplay him back in the day, but admitted now the win has to go to him. Hawkins scored 16 points in UConn’s defeat over San Diego State, while Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds in LSU’s dominant win over Iowa.

Overall, the cousins have shown that they have what it takes to succeed at the highest level of college basketball and their achievements have become an inspiration to the next generation of aspiring players.