By Zac Chamblee
After a brief hiatus, Carter Hankins made his return to football this summer at Southern Miss. Truth be told, the game never left him. The dream of playing for his hometown team never left him. The loss of a best friend never left him. The latter never will.
Just a year ago, Corey Husband, one of Hankins’ teammates at Forrest County AHS and Pearl River Community College, was shot and killed. He was 20 years old.
Even now, there’s not a day that goes by that Hankins doesn’t think about Husband and their friendship that was tragically cut short. It’s part of why Hankins is back in Hattiesburg, playing the game Husband should still be playing to this day.
“Ever since that stuff with Corey happened last year, football has been on my mind all the time,” Hankins said. “I’m just trying to come back and do it for him.”
Hankins’ mind was officially made up near the end of this past baseball season while he was playing at Northwestern State (La). He announced in June his intentions of transferring home and playing some more quarterback. Returning as a walk-on, Hankins has two years of eligibility remaining.
To say his return was met with praise, well, that would probably be an understatement. He’s lost count of all that have reached out offering their congratulations. In truth, it’s something he’s somewhat come to expect.
“They’ve always supported me with everything I’ve done, whether it’s at Pearl River or Forrest County,” Hankins said. “It feels good that they’re pulling for me. They’ve got my back.”
Fall camp officially kicked off for Hankins and company about a week ago. In the early going, sure, there’s been a little bit of a learning curve. But make no mistake about it, Hankins is set up to succeed.
“I’ve got a lot to learn, but Coach [Shannon] Dawson is a great coach,” Hankins said. “And I’m learning from Keon [Howard] and Kwadra [Griggs], and they know the offense better than anybody. I’m just trying to ask them questions as much as I can.”
With the 2017 season just under a month away, Hankins is counting the days while still pinching himself on occasion, trying to convince himself this isn’t a dream.
“I was looking the other day. I have a picture at home where I’m outside playing in the backyard with a Southern Miss jersey and helmet on,” Hankins said with a smile. “This is home. It’s always been a dream of mine to play here.”
“I’m fired up. My family is fired up. Everybody is fired up. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
