DEION ‘TANKINS’ BUILDS OFF JONES’ PRECEDENT FOR EL PASO BALL CARRIERS
By Vinny Lavalsiti, UTEP Athletics El Pasoans have a soft spot for their hometown running backs. UTEP football’s all-time leading rusher and current Green Bay Packer Aaron Jones is the one who first comes to mind. As a senior, No. 29 compiled 1,773 rushing yards and found the endzone 17 times to put the finishing touches on an all-time career for a Miner football player – part of which UTEP’s current feature back Deion Hankins got to witness. “My memories were that this guy can move,” said the redshirt freshman. “All (Jones) needs is one block and he’s out the door.”
logged a season-best 2,812 yards his sophomore year at Parkland High School – a few miles north of Jones’ alma mater in William H. Burges High School. Jones was pick 182 in the NFL Draft’s fifth round that summer, and Hankins was in the heat of his recruiting process. Admittedly, Jones played a role in Hankins’ decision to stay home. “(Jones) means a lot to me,” Hankins said. “He was always there for me to give me pointers and tips. So now that I’m finally here where he played at – if he can do it, I feel like if I work hard and have the same work ethic as him (I can too). He’s just a great role model.”
Just like Jones, El Paso manufactured Hankins into the bruising running back he is today. Hankins lined up in seven-onseven’s playing tackle football during his youth on the hot Sun City asphalt in the cul-de-sacs of El Paso’s upper east side.
Hankins is joined by two other El Paso-born running backs: senior Joshua Fields and redshirt junior Reynaldo Flores. UTEP running backs coach Barrick Nealy said Jones has served as a blueprint for the future success of El Pasoproduct running backs who choose to sign locally.
“We would tackle in the streets so that would just make me a tougher guy,” Hankins said. “It’s just natural for me – off instinct.” While Jones was in his redshirt junior season in 2016, Hankins
“I’m telling my guys all the time, ‘You’re standing on the shoulders of a giant,’” Nealy said. “’Everything that he went through, he did for you guys. It’s up to you
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to take that baton and run with it because the opportunity is there.’” Hankins – ranked 10th in the country in rushing – leads a running back group that is top-15 nationally with 503 rushing yards. According to Nealy, there is a pride and tradition in the running back room – stemming from the foundation Jones laid from 20132016 – being built for the next group of El Paso backs who join the Miner backfield. “You need to be grateful (for Jones),” Nealy said. “But you also need to grab hold of that baton and you need to run with it and pave the way for the next guy. Why can’t this be Running Back U?” Hankins’ physical play after three games is making a name for himself, and quite literally; the UTEP football Twitter community has taken turns producing nicknames each week. The man, himself, prefers “Deion Tankins.” “I kind of like ‘Deion Tankins’ because ‘tank’ is like the beginning of my last name,” Hankins said. Nealy – who arrived to UTEP at the same time as Hankins in 2019 – found “Earl Campbell, Jr.” as a suitable nickname for similar reasons, citing Hankins’ @UTEP @UTEPATHLETICS ATHLETICS
