March Madness: Jordan Hawkins aims to celebrate NCAA title with cousin and LSU star Angel Reese

UConn's Jordan Hawkins made both of this year's NCAA championships a family affair on Monday night, when he picked up a title a day after his cousin Angel Reese led LSU to the women's crown.

The two relatives are now set to be rewarded with commemorative rings to celebrate their respective, dominant performances throughout the entirety of March Madness. 

Hawkins, who scored 16 points to help UConn claim its fifth title with a 76-59 win over San Diego State, is from Maryland's biggest city, Baltimore, while Hawkins' hometown is just 42 miles away in Gaithersburg, a town made of 69,657 people.

Hawkins said that their titles wins are simply just reward of years of hard work, which the pair will celebrate in the next few weeks. 

'This is for all the kids from Gaithersburg, Maryland, that didn't think they could do it. I did it. Now you can do it, man,' Hawkins told CBS Sports after emerging as the third top-scorer of Monday night's game. 'Me and Angel paved the way. We did it.' 

Jordan Hawkins, 20, raved about his cousin Angel Reese, of LSU, after both won NCAA titles 

Reese played her heart out against Iowa on Sunday, scoring 15 points and getting 10 rebounds

Asked if he had been in touch with over the weekend, the UConn shooting guard, 20, said: 'I wished her luck. I'm going to see her in Maryland soon. 

'The cookout gone be lit.' 

Hawkins also touched base on the duo's path to winning the ultimate prize of college basketball in the post-game media conference of UConn's first title since 2014. 

'It's absolutely amazing, showing that kids that were our age at the time, we were dreaming about the same thing and we saw that it's possible,' this year's First-Team All Big-East player said.

'We saw that as amazing … that we both get this opportunity and I mean the family reunion is going to be great so that's all I know.'

And Hawkins had a message for those who've criticized Reese for waving her hand in front of her face while staring down Iowa star Caitlin Clark before pointing toward her finger where a championship ring might be while walking toward the Iowa star.

'We're national champions. They're not,' he said. 'So, at the end of the day, they can say whatever they want.'

Since Sunday, Reese has faced backlash on social media for taunting Iowa's Caitlin Clark after she pointed toward her finger at her, showing where she'll put her NCAA championship ring 

Hawkins scored 16 points for the Huskies in their 76-59 win against San Diego State on Monday

Reese, who was named Most Outstanding Player, was unapologetic over her actions after social media went wild with opinions on her trash talk in the closing minutes of LSU's 102-85 victory Sunday.

'All year, I was critiqued about who I was,' Reese said Sunday. 'I don't fit in a box that y'all want me to be in. I'm too hood. I'm too ghetto. But when other people do it, y'all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that's going to speak up on what they believe in. It's unapologetically you.'

On Monday night, when asked who would win a friendly family game of one-on-one between the two national champions, Hawkins sure sounded confident about the matchup's outcome.

'Probably me, now. I would probably win,' he said. 'But there was a time I would probably lose to her.'