MLB draft: No. 13 Courtney Hawkins’ back flip steals show [Video]

Texas high school outfielder Courtney Hawkins may have been picked 13th overall at the MLB draft on Monday, but he upstaged all the other players on hand.

Just how excited is Hawkins to be joining the Chicago White Sox organization? So excited that he could do a back flip.

And the 6-foot-3, 220-pound player did just that on the draft stage at the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J., after being encouraged by a reporter.

“They said, ‘Go do it,’ so I went and did it,” Hawkins said.

One person who apparently wasn’t too thrilled with the acrobatic stunt was White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams, who spoke to Hawkins right after he landed.

“Mr. Williams said no more back flips,” Hawkins said with a laugh. “Keep my feet on the ground.”

White Sox director of amateur scouting Doug Laumann said of the flip: “Sitting in front of the TV with Kenny and [White Sox assistant general manager] Rick [Hahn] and [vice president, player development and special assignments] Buddy [Bell] and everybody else, I wasn’t tickled to death. I know Kenny, in a fun way, we were surprised. If anything, it showed the athleticism of a big strong man.”

That athleticism is one of the reasons the White Sox went out on a limb to draft a player out of high school for the first time since 2001.

“This kid has too much potential for us to pass up,” Laumann said. “We are enormously excited.”

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