Rawle Alkins sat in McKale Center in January for an interview. As he spoke, his cousin was waiting in the car outside.
Alkins had been living in Tucson for half a year, but didn’t have any way of getting around. It took him a few more weeks to take — and pass — his driver’s test.
Now that Alkins can get around, he has learned just how well he fits in Tucson. He’s low-key and level-headed, which is somewhat surprising, given his hometown.
“Me being from New York, that’s six hours away by plane,” Alkins said. “It’s a whole different life. We used to take trains and buses, and there are so many people around.”
New circumstances — and surroundings — don’t seem to phase the UA freshman.
This is his origin story.
THE CITY
Arizona has a rich history of New Yorkers making their way to McKale Center. Khalid Reeves was a star at Christ the King High School before singing with the UA. In 2011, MoMo Jones, from Harlem, and Kevin Parrom, from the Bronx, helped the Wildcats to the Elite Eight. Mark Lyons, of Schenectady, transferred from Xavier to Arizona for the 2012-13 season. Both Jones and Lyons became well known for their cocky personas — Jones often referred to himself in the third person. Alkins is more relaxed than that:
Alkins: “I’m confident, don’t get me wrong, I’m still confident. I don’t need to show it. I let my game do the talking, but at the same time I’m confident in my ability and I know that with team success comes individual success and that’s … I just want to win.
Joe Arbitello, Christ the King coach: “Especially in New York, everyone thinks they’re the next coming. People would say to him that he’s not the best player in New York, but it never bothered him. That’s why I’ll never coach another kid with that type of talent and that type of personality. People don’t know what I mean by that, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care if he was the leading scorer, he didn’t care.”
Alkins: “In New York, it’s just … the tougher guys always win. I show my toughness in a different way. I don’t need to get in your face and talk to you, I just play. It happens to be a great thing for me.”
THE FAMILY
Alkins grew up an only child in Canarsie, but he wasn’t alone. Alkins shared a home with eight family members, including his mother Derline Zephir and cousin, Rodney Labossiere, both who run the show in Alkins’ life. All Alkins had, and needed, was a supportive family. For a five-star recruit with offers to play at blue blood programs nationwide, that’s something of a foreign concept.
Arbitello: “He doesn’t have handlers. He has his mother, his cousin Rodney and a couple cousins who live in the house with him in Canarsie. They never bothered me about basketball. It was just, ‘Is he doing well in school? Is he being a gentleman?’ That’s all they ever wanted to know. I used to think, ‘Why are they asking me this?’ This kid is the nicest kid I ever coached. If he wanted to be arrogant I would have to put up with it a little bit because he’s Rawle Alkins. So I think it’s just his mother deserves all the credit in the world for the way she raised him. She raised him to be a gentleman and worry about the important things in life.”
Alkins: “My mom raised me well.”
THE INJURY
Arizona was just four minutes into Saturday’s NCAA Tournament matchup with Saint Mary’s when Alkins doubled over, grimacing in pain, and quickly checked out of the game. The Wildcats were losing 17-12, and things just kept getting worse. Kadeem Allen missed a layup, Allonzo Trier turned the ball over, Chance Comanche missed an alley-oop dunk, Kobi Simmons missed three shots in a row, Allen missed a tip-in and Lauri Markkanen missed a layup. By the time Alkins checked back in with 3:43 left in the first half, Arizona was down 24-16 and reeling. Alkins, had fractured his right index finger.
Arbitello: “I was thinking to myself, he never missed a game for me in all the years. He never missed a game. One time he got hit in the mouth, might’ve lost one or two teeth, and he came right back in the game. It’s going to take a lot to keep him out.”
Alkins: “In the training room, they have a TV back there so I was watching the game and I saw we was down eight, so I told the trainer and the doctor, we have to do whatever it takes to get back on the court. Then they did the X-rays and luckily it was a minor fracture. So I said, ‘I can play?’ They said, ‘You can play.’ I just taped it up a little bit and ran back on the court.”
Kadeem Allen, UA senior guard: “He’s different, man. He’s different. Most people wouldn’t have come back into the game as a freshman. He got it taped up, came back out and played some good basketball.”
Less than a minute after returning, Alkins corralled a defensive rebound, took the ball up the floor himself, took on two defenders with a spin move at the rim and scored using his injured hand. At the 7:04 mark in the second half, Alkins made the play of the game: Defending a 3-on-1 Saint Mary’s fast break, he intercepted an attempted alley-oop pass. Arizona won the game 69-60, outscoring the Gaels 53-36 after Alkins returned. He finished with six points.
Sean Miller, UA head coach: “When you do that as a freshman and you’re in the NCAA tournament, and you leave the game, No. 1, it’s not easy to come back into the game, but to come back in the game and play well, says a lot about Rawle.”
Book Richardson, UA assistant coach: “He’s a warrior.”
Lauri Markkanen, UA freshman forward: “It was tough to lose him, he’s one of our key players. He plays extremely tough. That (steal) was a big play. I turned the ball over, it’s good to know my teammate has my back.”
Alkins: “I’m all-in. I’m going to do whatever takes to get back on the court.”
Miller: “It would be one tough kid to pop your finger back midway through the first half, come out on your shooting hand and play the rest of the game. As great as he played two nights ago, that says a lot more about Rawle than what he was able to do tonight. Anybody that’s played the game and has suffered a hand injury like that knows how difficult it is to do what he did.”
THE PERSONALITY
Alkins remembers peoples’ names. He smiles and shakes hands; he jokes. There’s a reason why he’s become a fan favorite. His personality on the court is tough, straight-forward. Off the court, his teammates say he’s “unique”. After all, Alkins has coined a phrase — “Savage Life” — and started movement.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright, UA junior guard: “He’s very unique, man. Level-headed, even-keeled. He’s not loud at all, he barely says much actually. I expect that, but everything about him is different from how he handles himself and carries himself, on or off the court.”
Kobi Simmons, UA freshman guard: “His personality is great. Off the court he’s fun to be around, he’s funny. On the court, he likes to take care of business. He likes to do whatever for the team to win. It’s great to have somebody like that to play with.”
Arbitello: “We were playing Cardova (in New York) one day and I had a two-guard named Jared Withers that went to LIU-Post. And Rawle was terrible. He was just terrible in the game. He worked his game around Jared and he was so happy that Jared got a scholarship after that game, and it couldn’t even bother him that he had a bad game. Most kids would be down and upset and he was so happy for Jared. That’s the kind of kid he is.”
Alkins: “It’s crazy. When I first started saying ‘savage life,’ I didn’t think of it as blowing up but right now everyone on the team is starting to use it, the fan base for Arizona is starting to use it, and it’s becoming a serious thing. It’s the Arizona mentality. It’s a mindset and it’s a mode that I get in before games. I can only speak for myself, but it’s different with everyone. You can take it how you want. Savage can mean a lot of things. It can be used in things other than basketball. I always wanted to play hard and play my best, and the word savage is the first thing that came to mind.”
THE SKILLS
There simply aren’t many college basketball players who look like Alkins. He arrived at Arizona having never lifted weights and was 6-5, 245 pounds with 18 percent body fat. With Arizona’s weight program, he’s now down to 7 percent body fat and a muscular 220 pounds. The versatile Alkins can play guard or small forward; he might be Arizona’s best rebounder. The freshman is averaging 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Draft Express projects him as a second-round pick in 2018, with room to rise.
Jackson-Cartwright: “I mean, he’s strong to the point where if he hits you he doesn’t know he’s that strong. He doesn’t bully people, he’s just strong. He’s not so much imposing his will, he’s just running through you.”
Mike Schmitz, DraftExpress analyst: “He’s a tough kid. He’s been really good for them. … He has the strength and he has the length. He’s a good athlete in transition, but in the halfcourt, when the floor is shrunk, he’s a heavy kid so it’s tough for that to translate. He’s not a jet with the ball. He’s going to need to continue to improve his skill level, become a knock-down shooter and really carve out a niche because I think he can do a little bit of everything, but he maybe doesn’t have an elite NBA skill yet, which is OK.”
THE KING
Rucker Park is the mecca of street basketball in New York City. There, NBA and street basketball players carry equal footing. Rucker is where Alkins received the nickname that’s stuck with him the longest:
Alkins: “‘King of the City’ … My middle name is Prince, so it’s Rawle Prince Alkins. So, it’s kind of like: The prince grew up.”
