by Landon Dyksterhouse
Daily Lobo
Imagine having to be at campus at 8 a.m. and not leaving until 12 a.m. Junior Hank Baskett does not imagine this lifestyle - he lives it.
Baskett personifies the words student athlete. In the fall, he plays wide receiver. In the spring, he competes in the high jump. Year round he makes good grades in the classroom.
A typical day for Baskett is arriving for class in the morning, and then going to practice all afternoon. Exhausted after practice, Baskett returns to main campus for a night class and then it's over to the library to study.
"The hardest thing about being a student athlete is going through a full-padded practice, sitting through the meetings and everything and coming out of practice tired," Baskett said. "Then you have the night classes. That's the hardest thing - going to night class."
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Baskett said he excels in athletics and academics because of values his parents instilled in him.
Baskett's father, Henry Jr., spent 30 years in the Air Force and taught him an important lesson early in life - giving up is not an option.
"One thing they always taught me is once I start something, they never let me quit anything," Baskett said. "I think that is good. That makes me want to go harder and not quit school. You may not want to do an assignment, but I know I never quit anything, and I am not going to start now."
Baskett said another reason academics is a priority is because he is on scholarship. He said athletes who do not have good grades do not play.
At Clovis High School, Baskett was a three-sport standout. He averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds playing basketball, and was a second team all-state punter and receiver. He set a state-meet record in the high jump with a 7-foot leap at the 2000 state track meet in Albuquerque. Not to mention he a carries a 190 average as a bowler.
As successful as Baskett was in athletics, he was equally successful in the classroom. He completed high school with a 4.0 GPA.
At UNM, Baskett finished third on the football team with 17 catches for 288 yards, along with three touchdowns, in all 13 games in 2002.
He earned all-Mountain West Conference honors for high jump his freshman and sophomore years. He was an academic all-MWC honoree and a first team academic all-district selection for the football team. Baskett is working toward an undergraduate degree in business.
Baskett said time management is an essential skill to have as a student athlete. He said he has to make time to relax and sleeps whenever he can.
"Managing your time and having a full schedule is difficult," Baskett said. "But you still have to have time for yourself because if it gets to where you have no time for yourself, that's when the stress really hits you hard."
Senior academic football adviser David Fox has worked with Baskett over the last three years, and said his success is inevitable.
"Hank is a great student and a better young man," Fox said. "I will be surprised if he doesn't make a lot of money in his lifetime. I think he typifies what coach Long wants the program to be about."
