Jerone Morton has been training with Dominique Hawkins this offseason

A couple of Bluegrass Boys have spent part of the offseason sharpening each other’s basketball skills.

Former Kentucky guard Dominique Hawkins, now a basketball trainer in central Kentucky, has been mentoring new Kentucky guard Jerone Morton. Hawkins posted 20 pictures to his Instagram page from a recent training session with Morton, captioned “Trust The Work”. The two appeared to be getting their work done at Madison Central High School in Richmond, where Hawkins graduated from after leading the Indians to the 2013 state championship and winning Mr. Basketball.

Morton was also a state champion during his high school days, winning the 2022 title with George Rogers Clark out in nearby Winchester before finishing as the runner-up in 2023. The path from local star to being a real contributor at Kentucky worked out well for Hawkins — Morton following a similar path would be good news for head coach Mark Pope going into the 2026-27 season.

Dominique Hawkins got some training work in with Kentucky guard Jerone Morton this week 👀🔥

Could Jerone end up playing a similar role to what Dominique did on some of Kentucky’s great teams?🤔 pic.twitter.com/h46X3BANrP

— Mario A Maitland (@MarioMaitland_3) May 28, 2026

Trust The Work! In the gym with @MortonJerone ✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/BB0vJ7Pjsk

— Dominique Hawkins (@Dhawk_25) May 28, 2026

Morton’s journey to UK was a bit different than Hawkins’, though. The 6-foot-4 guard started his college career at Morehead State for two seasons before transferring to Washington State. He’ll be a senior next season with the Wildcats, filling in as a backup guard behind the likes of Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins. Morton shot 38.8 percent from deep last season, averaging 7.8 points and 2.6 assists per outing for the Cougars.

At least going by the numbers, Morton has already done more at the college level than Hawkins did. Listed at an even 6-feet tall, Hawkins started just 13 of his 121 college games played at UK. But by the time he was a senior in 2016-17, he was making a real impact off the bench: 4.7 points and 1.7 assists in 19.2 minutes per outing while posting career-highs in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, and free-throw percentage. He appeared in all 38 games that season for the ‘Cats, which infamously lost to North Carolina in the Elite 8.

Hawkins was a fan favorite by the time he left college for his effort and energy off the bench. Morton has a chance to do the same. He’s learning from the best.