CORDAVIOUS HANKIN

While most of us think of all the bad things the Covid pandemic brought us, it really played a key role in the athletic life of Idabel senior Cordavious Hankin. 

“I grew up watching my older brother Malik Mitchell and cousin Tamarak Hankin play basketball and really enjoyed watching them and the crowd. My older brother used to dunk on me all the time when we played and I got so mad, but it was fun and he showed me how the game was played,” said the Warrior shooting guard. “I also played football when I was young but when I got to eighth grade, Covid wiped out football and I spent a lot of time in the gym and that’s when basketball really took over my life, I played football again this year but mostly just to get stronger for basketball.”

Cordavious averaged 14 points and seven rebounds a game last year as the Warriors posted a 23-5 record and made it to the Class 3A state tournament. Besides his brother and cousin, Cordavious also enjoyed watching Michael Jordan. 

“The way he played was so crazy and he was so athletic. Later on, I also learned a lot watching Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry,” said Hankin who also runs track for the Warriors and finished second in the state last year in the high jump.

The Warriors return a solid core of players from last year’s team and Cordavious is one of a handful of seniors that take over leadership duties for the team which he acknowledges.

“I think a good leader means doing everything right. You need to be encouraging and we always pick each other up, don’t let ourselves get down, keep our heads up and tell each other we got this.”

Coach Burchtal Griffin has been around Cordavious for several years and has watched him grow both on and off the court.

“He’s an outstanding young man and a good leader for our team that holds everyone accountable. But he’s also a leader in the community and in his church. One of the fondest memories I have with Cordavious was when he was in the fifth grade and he and several kids were in the car headed for a tournament and the other kids were trying to sing and Cordavious, who sings at this church, broke out in a church song and everyone else just stopped and looked at him,” said Griffin.

Cordavious says his goals for this year in basketball are to average 19-23 points and game and get his team back to the state tournament.