Michele Hawkins

[quote]I am very excited to have Michele with our softball program. Her energy, knowledge, and passion for the game are contagious. Michele[apos]s experiences, both playing and coaching, will be a huge asset to our pitching staff. She has proven herself in the Big Ten and at the professional level and will serve as a tremendous role model for our student-athletes.[quote] Robin Petrini

Michele Hawkins begins her second year as assistant coach for the Nittany Lion softball team. She works primarily with the pitching staff, guiding Jackie Hill, Lisa Akamine and Kimi Wong.

Hawkins brings a wealth of Big Ten experience as a graduate of Northwestern where she earned All-Midwest Region twice and was an All-Big Ten selection from 1990-94. In addition, she appears multiple times throughout the Northwestern record book, most notably for wins and shutouts. She also contributed five no-hitters in her time as a Wildcat.

[quote]I am very excited to have Michele with our softball program,[quote] said Petrini at the time of Hawkins[apos] hire. [quote]Her energy, knowledge, and passion for the game are contagious. Michele[apos]s experiences, both playing and coaching, will be a huge asset to our pitching staff. She has proven herself in the Big Ten and at the professional level and will serve as a tremendous role model for our student-athletes.[quote]

After graduating with her degree in education and social policy, Hawkins joined the Michigan State staff as the pitching coach from 1994-97. Stacey Smith was her star hurler earning recognition on All-Big Ten and All-Great Lakes Region teams.

From there, Hawkins went back to Chicago, this time as the head coach at the University of Chicago. In her three years she became the winningest coach in Maroons history and still has the highest winning percentage of .648. In addition, she had a Rhodes Scholar in Erin Bohula in 1999.

Hawkins spent the next two years playing post-collegiate softball with the Georgia Pride (`98) and the Durham Dragons (`99). A highlight of her professional career was when she went on to play in the national tournament for the women[apos]s major division of the ASA. Her team placed third in the country while she finished the tournament with a perfect ERA of 0.00. For her efforts, she was named an ASA First Team All-American

Following her time with the ASA, Hawkins worked for the International Softball Federation, and traveled overseas holding pitching clinics for national teams throughout Europe and the Carribbean.

In 2006-07, she resumed coaching, this time at Emory University. In both her years with the Eagles, she was part of the NFCA Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year, and helped the team to a fifth place finish in the NCAA Div. III Tournament. In addition, two of her pitchers went on to earn selection to the All-Atlantic Region team.

In 1999, Hawkins earned her master[apos]s degree in community and agency counseling from Michigan State.