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Brandon Hawkins Jr., a juco receiver from Texas, commits to Washington State

By Colton Clark coltonc@spokesman.com

Washington State’s football program secured its first junior-college commit of the 2023 recruiting class when Navarro College (Texas) wide receiver Brandon Hawkins Jr. pledged to WSU on Sunday afternoon, announcing his decision over Twitter.

Through seven games this season, Hawkins leads his team with 526 yards and four touchdowns on 27 receptions. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster totaled 203 yards and two scores on 12 catches in six games last year at Navarro, located in Corsicana – just south of Dallas and 50 miles from Hawkins’ hometown of Waxahachie.

Navarro (5-3) competes against some of the top-ranked NJCAA teams in the country. The Bulldogs’ three losses have come against No. 1 Hutchinson, No. 5 New Mexico Military and No. 7 Trinity Valley. Hawkins registered 360 yards and three touchdowns on 16 catches in those games.

WSU and eight other programs extended offers earlier this month, according to his 247Sports.com recruiting profile. The Cougars were the only Power Five team to recruit Hawkins, who chose the Pullman school over Group of Five suitors Utah State, Texas State and Eastern Michigan, along with several FCS programs.

Hawkins was a standout receiver and defensive back at Waxahachie High, which competes in the top athletics classification in Texas (6A). He piled up 1,129 receiving yards and caught 14 touchdown passes as a junior in 2019. Hawkins split time as a pass-catcher and run-first quarterback for the Indians in 2020. He logged 234 receiving yards and one TD catch and rushed for 692 yards and seven touchdowns on 124 carries. Hawkins passed 24 of 53 for 151 yards and four TDs with five interceptions, per his MaxPreps profile.

Out of high school, he held offers from FCS programs Austin Peay and Incarnate Word – where current WSU offensive coordinator Eric Morris coached over the past four years – but Hawkins went the juco route.

Hawkins is the 14th verbal commitment of WSU’s 2023 recruiting class and the first transfer. He joins two other Texas natives in the class – safety Jalen Gilbert, a three-star prospect from Round Rock, and defensive lineman Ansel Din-Mbuh, a three-star recruit from Aledo. Hawkins has yet to receive a star ranking from 247Sports.com.