Hawthorne’s loving life back on ‘O’

The last year has had an unreal quality to it for C.J. Hawthorne.

"It's crazy. I had a dream that I just went back to Mississippi last night," Hawthorne said with a laugh. "It's the first time I've had it, man. I was riding down near the beach, because I stay on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And our beach was beautiful like y'all's beach ... and our beach back home is not that beautiful, brown water and everything."

Everything seems clearer in his life now. After a close call with Hurricane Katrina in his hometown area of Biloxi almost two years ago, the good news just keeps rolling in for Carroll Joseph, a senior receiver for No. 23-ranked Hawaii.

His son, Kobe Tayshaun Hawthorne (C.J. is a big basketball fan) will be 20 months old soon. He got married to his wife, Tina, in December, and right around the week of the Warriors' 41-24 Hawaii Bowl victory over Arizona State, coach June Jones told the 5-foot-11, 168-pound Hawthorne something he had been waiting a long time to hear: He would be going back to his natural wide receiver position after starting at cornerback five times last season.

Hawthorne, who played receiver at Southwest Gulf Coast and Mississippi Gulf Coast community colleges, couldn't be blamed if he threw a celebration. Of course, that's not his style, and he laughed when it was suggested that he should.

And yesterday at practice, Jones said the speedy Hawthorne will likely start at Z receiver, (with sophomore Malcolm Lane also getting significant playing time) in the first game of the season against Northern Colorado.

"He's going to be an impact player," Jones said. "The competition has been good for both of them. The difference between the two players is that when there's a little indecision, C.J. still goes full speed. Malcolm wants to be perfect."

Receivers coach Ron Lee said it's imperative for Hawthorne to have a big season, in part to help free up All-Western Athletic Conference slotbacks Ryan Grice-Mullins and Davone Bess. He's been absorbing the Warriors' offensive schemes as fast as possible since December.

"He's geared up for that, running well after the catch and he's fast enough to beat anybody on top as well as catch it underneath and turn it into a big play," Lee said. "So he's going to be real explosive, keep (the defense) honest."

Hawthorne still dreams big. He plans to take his family home after college, then dedicate himself to playing pro football if the opportunity is there. But he was recently reminded of the destruction wrought in Mississippi.

"In my dream, we went to my old neighborhood that was still over there, and all the stuff was still down from Katrina," Hawthorne said.

His house was spared a direct hit from the storm surge and winds that leveled so many coastal homes; the main thing he had to do was cut down a tree that fell on the roof. Power remained down for other nearby houses as long as three months after the hurricane, and his father-in-law's house was flooded with 6 feet of water.

"We were a lot more fortunate than a lot of people were, who were a little bit closer to the water and in New Orleans," he said. "A new roof, it was nothing in comparison."