Some family members will spend gatherings talking about the latest updates with work or how classes are going at school. Jordan Hawkins and Angel Reese are going to have a bit more to share than most.
Reese and the LSU Tigers took home the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament title on Sunday in a dominating 102-85 victory against Iowa. The next day, Hawkins, her cousin and UConn guard, won the men's title in a 76-59 final against San Diego State.
"Imma see [Reese] in Maryland soon so, so the cookout gone be lit," Hawkins told CBS Sports after the game.
"Imma see her in Maryland soon so... The cookout gone be lit!"
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) April 4, 2023
Jordan Hawkins and his cousin @Reese10Angel are now BOTH national champions 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nlVXLoE1yO
MORE: Angel Reese sounds off after Caitlin Clark taunt: 'I don't fit the narrative'
The two basketball stars grew up in the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area, as a pair of competitive cousins. Hawkins' mom is Reese's dad's sister.
Hawkins scored 16 points on Monday night, including a big three-pointer late in the second half after San Diego State had cut UConn's 16-point lead to five. The trey sparked a 9-0 run that essentially put the game away.
Before Hawkins played in the Final Four against Miami, Reese sent a message to him wishing him luck and telling him it would be the only time she would be cheering on UConn.
"Hey Jordan, it's Angel here and I just wanna wish you good luck in the tournament. I'm super happy for you, I'm super excited for you," Reese said. "This the only weekend I'm cheering for the Huskies, but good luck. Go get that natty. Do it for the DMV. You know we family first."
“Me and Angel go way back … I remember we was at the park, she was cooking me.”
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 31, 2023
Angel Reese and Jordan Hawkins go way back. Now they’re both repping the DMV and fighting for a national championship for LSU and UConn 🙏 @highlighther
(via @awebbreese) pic.twitter.com/69tqF9zyOW
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In a response to the video, Hawkins recalled how he and Reese used to play basketball together while growing up and remembered how Reese was "cooking me" on the court.
"To see we're both in the Final Four is amazing," Hawkins said. "I love her to death, love her family to death. She gotta win it for us man. Win it for Maryland, win it for the DMV."
And during Monday's press conference, Hawkins was quick to defend Reese, whose celebrations toward Iowa's Caitlin Clark toward the end of the national championship were met with controversy.
"Angel, she has the heart of a lion," Hawkins said. "She's not worried about any of that. She's going to play her game. She's from the dirty streets of Baltimore so she's the toughest of the toughest so that's nothing to her."