Top 5 teams Coleman Hawkins dominated during his Illinois basketball career

It was a great four years with Coleman Hawkins on the Illinois basketball roster, and some teams felt his wrath more than others

Wisconsin v Illinois
Wisconsin v Illinois | David Berding/GettyImages
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4. Minnesota Golden Gophers: 6-0 overall (100% winning rate)

Michigan State was a team that could actually beat Illinois when Hawkins was on the roster. Spoiler alert that is the last team on this list to have beaten the Illini.

Hawkins dominated quite a few teams during his time in Champaign, and taking the No. 4 spot on this list is Minnesota. Not exactly known as a juggernaut program, the Golden Gophers struggled mightily during the Hawkins era of Illinois basketball.

With Hawkins on the roster, Illinois played six games against Minnesota and were 6-0. It is not like those six games were close either. The Illini won each of the games by an average of 19.3 points per game.

During this six-game win streak, Hawkins did manage to start in three of the contests, one of which the program scored 105 points.

Hawkins’ averages in the three starts consisted of 13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. He also shot 51.9% from the field and was 6-of-16, 37.5%, from three-point range.

Playing four years at any college program is rare, especially nowadays. But Hawkins was in Champaign for four successful seasons, and Minnesota felt his wrath every year. The Golden Gophers are probably glad he is finally out of the Big Ten and they likely won’t have to see him again.

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