Illawarra Hawks

Illawarra Hawks
2016–17 Illawarra Hawks season
Leagues NBL
Founded 1979
History Illawarra Hawks
1979–1998, 2015–present
Wollongong Hawks
1998–2015
Arena The Sandpit
WIN Entertainment Centre
Arena Capacity 6,000
Location Wollongong, New South Wales
Team colors Red and White
         
General manager Kim Welch
Head coach Rob Beveridge
Team captain Oscar Forman
Ownership James Spenceley
Championships 1 (2001)
Retired numbers 5 (4, 5, 12, 32, 33)
Website Hawks.com.au
Uniforms
Home
Away
Alternate

The Illawarra Hawks are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. They won the NBL championship in 2001 and finished as runners-up in 2005 and 2010. The team's home venue is the WIN Entertainment Centre (WEC), known as "The Sandpit" within the NBL.[1] The Hawks are the only remaining NBL club to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979. The Hawks' feeder team, also known as the Illawarra Hawks, formerly competed in the Waratah League before withdrawing in 2015.[2][3][4]

History

The club was originally known as the Illawarra Hawks, the name referring to the Illawarra region rather than specifically its major urban centre, Wollongong. The club changed its name to Wollongong Hawks after the 1998 season; the team also adopted a new logo and moved to the new 6,000 seats capacity WIN Entertainment Centre.

Prior to 1998 the Hawks played out of the Beaton Park Stadium, commonly known as "The Snakepit", located in Gwynneville, a suburb of Wollongong close to the city centre. The Snakepit had a reputation among players and coaches as one of the most feared venues in the league. Despite being only small (capacity 1,800), the fans were packed in close to the action making for an awesome atmosphere. The Snakepit is still in use by the Hawks as a training venue and for pre-season matches.

During the 2007–08 season, the Hawks experienced significant financial difficulty and as a result, the team was nearly forced to withdraw prior to the completion of the season. In response, a community ownership plan was developed, the Friends of the Hawks, along the lines of the Green Bay Packers of the American NFL.

In February 2009, captain Mat Campbell started the "Save the Hawks" campaign to make sure the last remaining foundation club would still exist in the National Basketball League. Campbell and his small team reached their goal, thanks to the commitment of the Illawarra community, naming rights sponsor ahm Health Insurance, and a bank guarantee provided by Indian mining magnate Mr. Arun Jagatramka from Gujarat NRE.

On 14 July 2014, an Extraordinary General Meeting was held where members voted unanimously for a change in the club's constitution to allow telecommunications entrepreneur, James Spenceley, to become the club's new owner.[5] Following a dismal 2014–15 season, the organisation was dealt a substantial off court blow with Wollongong Coal pulling out of their major sponsorship 1½ years into a five-year contract. The Hawks subsequently decided to place themselves into Voluntary Administration on 2 March 2015.[6][7] On 25 March 2015, the Hawks secured Multi Civil and Rail as their major sponsor, as the company committed to a one-year deal.[8]

On 22 June 2015, the club announced that the team would revert to its original name, Illawarra Hawks, to better reflect that the team not only represents the city of Wollongong, but also the surrounding area including the city of Shellharbour, the town of Kiama and the Wingecarribee Shire.[9][10]

Name, logo and uniforms

The team's colours are red and white. The logo consists of a red hawk with smaller text "Illawarra" centered above the larger text of "Hawks". The Hawk is holding a basketball in its talons. Predominately red uniforms are used for home games, and predominately white uniforms for away games.

Home arenas

The Illawarra Hawks play their home games at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. WIN Entertainment Centre opened in September 1998 with a concert by Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. It holds a capacity of 6,000 seats when in full basketball format. The Illawarra Hawks are the only full-time tenants at the arena. The Hawks have been playing at the arena since the 1998–99 NBL season.

Prior to this season, the Hawks played out of the 2,000 seat Beaton Park Stadium (also known as the Illawarra Basketball Stadium) for twenty seasons starting from the club's inception in 1979. One story that evolved around the NBL during the 1980s was that the Illawarra Steelers rugby league team would sit behind the opposition bench during Hawks home games at Beaton Park in a bid to intimidate the opposing team. The Hawks continue to use the stadium as a training facility and also play some pre-season games there.

Players

Retired jerseys

Illawarra Hawks retired numbers
No. Player Position Seasons
4 Chuck Harmison F/C 1979–1986
5 Gordie McLeod G 1979–1982, 1984–1988
12 Glen Saville G/F 1995–2007, 2008–2013
32 Mat Campbell G/F 1996–2012
33 Melvin Thomas F 1992–1995, 1999–2003

Source: Retired Numbers

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Illawarra Hawks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt.
G 3 Australia White, Kevin 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 90 kg (198 lb)
C 6 Australia Ogilvy, Andrew 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 115 kg (254 lb)
F 7 Australia Forman, Oscar (C) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 103 kg (227 lb)
G 8 Australia Norton, Mitch 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 91 kg (201 lb)
F 9 Australia Jamieson, Luke (DP) 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
F/C 11 Australia Kay, Nick 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 106 kg (234 lb)
G 13 Australia Martin, Rhys (C) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb)
G 15 United States Clarke, Rotnei (I) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 83 kg (183 lb)
F 22 Australia Coenraad, Tim 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 97 kg (214 lb)
G/F 23 United States Harris, Marvelle (I) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 94 kg (207 lb)
F 24 Australia Ellis, Cody 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 110 kg (243 lb)
C 55 United States Holyfield, Michael (I) 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 118 kg (260 lb)
G 79 Australia Glover, Angus (DP) 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Head coach
  • Australia Rob Beveridge
Assistant coach(es)
  • United States Eric Cooks
  • Australia Matt Flinn
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 6 October 2016

Coaches

There have been ten different head coaches for the Hawks during their history. Charlie Ammit was the first coach of the Hawks to take the team to a finals series when his side finished fourth in the regular season with a 13-11 record. Brendan Joyce was the first coach to both win the Championship (in 2000–01) and claim runners-up (in 2004–05). He was also the first coach to claim runners-up in the regular season (in 2003–04). Both Joyce (2004–05) and Gordie McLeod (2009–10) have the unfortunate honour of claiming the runners-up prize in both the regular season and finals series in the same year. Eric Cooks became the first captain of the club (1999–00) to also become a coach (2006–2009). McLeod is the only other captain (1980–1982 and 1984–1988) to have accomplished this when took over from Cooks in 2009.

Season by season

Illawarra Hawks season summary
Season Results Finals Coach Captain Club MVP[11]
1979
8th (5-13)
–
Joe Farrugia
Bob Kubbinga
Not awarded
1980 6th (13–9) – Dr. Adrian Hurley
Gordie McLeod
1981 8th (9–13) – Joe Farrugia
1982 9th (11–15) – Tom Pottenger
1983 7th (4–18) –
Charlie Ammit
Mike Jones
1984 4th (13–11) Elimination Finalist
Gordie McLeod
1985 5th (10–16) – Ted Weston
1986 5th (15–11) Semi Finalist Dave Lindstrom
1987 3rd (20–6) Semi Finalist
1988 7th (11–13) –
1989 11th (7–11) – Chuck Harmison Norman Taylor
1990 8th (13–13) – Norman Taylor
1991 13th (6–20) – Norman Taylor
1992 5th (13–11) Quarter Finalists Doug Overton
1993 6th (15–11) Quarter Finalists Alan Black Melvin Thomas
1994 8th (13–13) Quarter Finalists Melvin Thomas
1995 7th (14–12) Quarter Finalists Melvin Thomas
1996 10th (9–17) –
Brendan Joyce
Terry Johnson
1997 11th (7–23) – Matt Zauner Clayton Ritter
1998 6th (14–16) Elimination Finalists Clayton Ritter Clayton Ritter
1998–99 3rd (16–10) Semi Finalists C. J. Bruton
1999–00 8th (11–17) – Eric Cooks Glen Saville & Melvin Thomas
2000–01 4th (21–7) Champions
Mat Campbell &
Glen Saville
Glen Saville
2001–02 4th (16–14) First Round Glen Saville
2002–03 4th (18–12) Semi Finalists Glen Saville
2003–04 2nd (28–8) Semi Finalists
Mat Campbell
Glen Saville
2004–05 2nd (20–12) Grand Finalists Glen Saville
2005–06 3rd (19–13) Quarter Finalists Rotating Captaincy Cortez Groves
2006–07 10th (11–12) –
Brendan Joyce, Eric Cooks
Glen Saville
Adam Ballinger
2007–08 11th (9–21) –
Eric Cooks
Mat Campbell
Kavossy Franklin
2008–09 7th (9–19) – Glen Saville
2009–10 2nd (16-12) Grand Finalists
Gordie McLeod
Larry Davidson
2010–11 5th (15–13) – Gary Ervin
2011–12 8th (9–19) – Oscar Forman
2012–13 3rd (13–15) Semi Finalists
Oscar Forman
 Adris Deleon
2013–14 4th (13–15) Semi Finalists Rotnei Clarke
2014–15 8th (6–22) – Tim Coenraad[12]
2015–16 3rd (17–11) Semi Finalists Rob Beveridge Kevin Lisch

Source:[1]

Trophies and Awards

Trophies

Championships (1): 2001
Grand Final Appearances (3): 2001, 2005, 2010
Finals Appearances (18): 1984, 1986–87, 1992–95, 1998–99, 2001–06, 2010, 2013–14

Awards

NBL MVP

NBL Grand Final MVP

NBL Coach of the Year Award

NBL Rookie of the Year Award

  • Greg Hubbard – 1987
  • Justin Withers – 1989
  • Axel Dench – 2001

NBL Best Defensive Player Award

NBL Most Improved Player Award

NBL Best Sixth Man Award

All-NBL team

Source: NBL AWARD WINNERS

Records and statistics

All-time records
Most games 527 Glen Saville[13]
Most points 6865 Glen Saville
Most rebounds 4041 Glen Saville
Most assists 1847 Glen Saville
Most steals 776 Glen Saville
Most blocks 423 Glen Saville
Most field goals 2511 Glen Saville
Most 3-pointers 1049 Mat Campbell
Most free throws 1163 Glen Saville
Game records
Most points in a game 54 Norman Taylor, 18 May 1990
Most 3-pointers made in a game 10 Charles Thomas, 29 December 2001
Most assists in a game 18 Gordie McLeod, twice
Most blocks in a game 7 3 players
Most steals in a game 9 Elliot Hatcher, 13 March 1998
Most rebounds in a game 23 Ray Borner, 9 May 1987
Source: andthefoul.net

References

  1. 1 2 "Season by Season". HawksHistory.com.au. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Seahawks saved from extinction
  3. ↑ Seahawks latest basketball team to bite dust
  4. ↑ Hawks' feeder team collapses
  5. ↑ Hawks under new Ownership
  6. ↑ Hawks Announcement
  7. ↑ Wollongong Hawks Announcement
  8. ↑ Wollongong Hawks land new sponsor
  9. ↑ Hawks revert to original Illawarra moniker
  10. ↑ We're the Illawarra Hawks and we're flying to the top #FlyYouHawks
  11. ↑ "Hawks MVP/Honour Roll". hawks.com.au. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  12. ↑ Tim Keeble (26 February 2015). "Coenraad rewarded with MVP for Hawks". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Glen Saville announces his retirement from the National Basketball League
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