Lady Pirate Laney Hawkins Signs with Olney Central

Front Row L to R: Lisa Hawkins (Laney’s mother), Laney, Jason Hawkins (Laney’s father) Back Row L to R: Jerry Doyle (Cross Country Coach), Caleb Hawkins (Laney’s brother), Scott Matthews (CHS Head Girls Basketball Coach), John Orr (JV Girls Basketball Coach), Rick Myers (Assistant Girls Basketball Coach), and Ashley Diaz (Assistant Girls Basketball Coach)

Charlestown senior Laney Hawkins was recently joined by family, coaches, teammates, and friends to sign her celebratory letter of intent to attend school and play basketball at Olney Central College in the fall.

Olney Central College is a two-year public community college in Olney, Illinois that offers a variety of educational opportunities with transfer degrees and technical programs that prepare students for careers in today’s competitive job market. OCC continuously receives recognition for its completion and graduation rates, earning it rankings as the No. 1 Community College in Illinois and one of the Top 150 Community Colleges in the nation.

OCC supports four sports at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I level. The men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball teams are extremely competitive in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and region.

When asked about her choice to attend school and play basketball at Olney Central College with the Blue Knights, Hawkins replied, “I chose Olney Central College to continue my academic and athletic career because of the effort the coaching staff has made to get to know me. I really like the style of play at Olney and how the players and coaches encourage and uplift each other. OCC is a small college with small class sizes with the opportunity to get to know instructors well. I’m very grateful and excited about this decision.” Hawkins will major in radiology technology.

Charlestown Lady Pirates basketball coach Scott Matthews had this to say: “Congratulations to Laney with her signing to Olney Central. We are excited to follow her basketball journey after high school and wish her the best of luck. Go Knights!”

WPMQ, The Pirate Network congratulates Laney and wishes her a healthy and prosperous future as an Olney Central College Blue Knights.

Article contributed by WPMQ, The Pirate Network staff member Aiden Stewart.