Hassan Haywood feature for Rutgers-Newark website
By Jim Hague
When Hassan Haywood was just four years old, his father, Terrence Haywood, Sr. was shot and killed in the streets of hometown Newark.
Haywood father’s murder changed him for the rest of his life.
“I wanted to be just like him,” Hassan Haywood said. “I didn’t want my mother stressing over me. He set an example for me to live by.”
Haywood went on to attend Arts High School in Newark, but the academic school offered only a handful of varsity sports.
“I played baseball for Arts, but I ran track and played football for Newark Central,” Haywood said. “I wanted to stay with my school, but because my school didn’t have those sports, I played for Newark Central. It felt kind of normal for me, because I knew everyone there. I was used to it.”
It was during his junior year in high school that Haywood started to blossom as a track and field athlete, especially as a jumper.
“I never really practiced jumping at all,” Haywood said. “I got to one meet and my coach told me to try it. That I already was doing the running and I just had to hop on my left leg.”
That approach led Haywood to do the triple jump for the very first time. He already had been working on the long jump and the high jump.
“I never did the triple jump before at all,” Haywood said. “I walked out the steps to get used to it.”
The result of Haywood’s first-ever triple jump was an astounding 42 feet. No practice, no prior instruction, just run and jump - and bingo, 42 feet.
“I actually liked jumping,” Haywood said. “When I ran in sprints, I never was the fastest kid on the team. But I liked to jump. I liked to flip. I did those things on my own. It was fun. It was actually something that I excelled in.”
By the time Haywood was a senior, he was jumping 43 feet regularly.
At the NJSIAA state sectional championships, Haywood was introduced to Rutgers-Newark head coach Juan Edney.
“I could tell right away that he was a very intelligent kid,” Edney said. “I was told by someone that he was already accepted at Rutgers-Newark.”
That’s because Haywood had a head start. As a youngster, Haywood participated in the Rutgers Future Scholars program, giving grade school students a taste of college life by taking classes they would later get credit for.
“I had been going to classes at Rutgers-Newark since seventh grade,” Haywood said. “I knew that if I went there, I would be getting a scholarship. I liked the area. I already knew the campus and the area. It was right here. I figured I might as well go here.”
So Haywood enrolled at R-N and decided to go out for the track team.
“He came to us and he already had a chiseled body,” Edney said. “I found out from him that he was doing front flips over bushes near his house. I knew that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this kid. He came in freshman year and I immediately saw the potential.”
Edney had Haywood run in some track events, like the 400-meter dash and relays. But he knew that his future was as a jumper.
Haywood said that he gained inspiration to become a better jumper right away.
“I wanted to jump like him,” Haywood said. “I wanted to run fast like him.”
The inspiration? Coach Edney himself. Edney was an 11-time NCAA Division III at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania during his heyday, leading Lincoln to two NCAA Division III national championships.
“I wanted to prove that I could be up there with him,” Haywood said. “I wanted to make him happy.”
A junior now at R-N, Haywood is well on his way, already qualifying for the ECAC Championships after just his first meet of the indoor track season. He hopes to qualify for the NCAA Division III nationals as well before the season is over. If he qualifies for both, Haywood would become the first Scarlet Raider jumper to ever qualify for the nationals.
“He has the ability to do both,” Edney said. “He just needs to prepare well. I tell him that he needs to stop overanalyzing everything. He has to just stop thinking and see what happens naturally. If he takes that approach, he could be the ECAC champion. He’s an athlete. He’s a competitor and I like that. I also like his versatility to do different events. It makes the team that much stronger.”
The 20-year-old Haywood has a lot on his plate. Besides being a finance major and a key member of the track team, Haywood resides at home with his mother and six-year-old brother Mustaheim.
“I teach him how to do things, like flips,” Haywood said. “I flip around with him and play with him. I want to see how smart he can become. It’s fun watching him grow.”
Haywood also has to juggle working as well to help his mother pay the family bills. Haywood has two jobs at a Mexican restaurant chain as a crew member and chef and does office work for the Rutgers Future Scholars program.
Haywood also has to make sure he arrives at school at time to catch the 7:30 a.m. bus that takes the team to the Jersey City Armory for practices.
“I was so used to going to practice after school,” Haywood said. “Now I have to be at school early in the morning. I’m not a morning person, so it’s hard for me. It’s tough because I get tired during the day, but I’ve had to overcome that.”
Haywood is working on improving his jumping ability while trying to find an internship for the summer months of 2018.
“That’s my next goal,” Haywood said. “I’m starting to apply for internships. I also want to jump further than what I’ve done (his personal best in the triple jump is 45 feet). I want to get close to 48-49 feet. I want to become an All-American.”
Edney likes having Haywood as part of the team.
“He’s an outgoing kid, a fun kid,” Edney said. “He’s talkative and he’s willing to help the younger kids. He just has to get a little stronger in the weight room. He has to understand what he’s doing. He needs to get out further with his first step. I think he understands it. Now he needs to do it.”
Haywood knows that he has a lot on his plate, but he’s up to the challenge.
“I know I have to live up to Coach Edney’s standards,” Haywood said. “I need to leave a path for others to follow. I have to work harder to get to that goal.”
