Wollongong Hawks

Wollongong Hawks
Leagues NBL
Founded 1979
History Illawarra Hawks
1979–1997
Wollongong Hawks
1998–present
Arena The Sandpit
WIN Entertainment Centre
 Capacity 5,673
Location Wollongong, New South Wales
Team colors Red and White
         
Main sponsor Multi Civil and Rail
CEO Australia Bill Dowson
President Australia Peter Bahlmann
General manager Australia Kim Welch
Head coach Australia Gordie McLeod
Team captain Australia Oscar Forman
Ownership Australia James Spenceley
Championships 1 (2001)
Website Hawks.com.au
Uniforms
Home
Away

The Wollongong 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]

History

The Hawks are the only remaining NBL club to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979 without relocating to another city. 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 name change took place after the 1998 season; the team also adopted a new logo and moved to the new, 6,000 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. Local supporters were known to lean over from the bar at the southern end of the court and shake the ring and even sometimes throw beer on opposition players as they entered the change room, while NBL folklore had the Illawarra Steelers rugby league team often sitting behind the opposition bench as an intimidation tactic. The Snakepit is still in use by the Hawks as a training venue and for pre-season matches.

During the 2007/2008 season, the Hawks experienced significant financial difficulty and as a result the team nearly was forced to withdraw prior to the completion of the season. 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, Hawks 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. Mat and his small team reached their goal, thanks to the commitment of the Illawarra community, naming rights sponsor ahm Australian Health Management 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 clubs constitution to allow telecommunications entrepreneur, James Spenceley, to become the Club's new owner.[2] Following a dismal 2014–15 season, the organisation was dealt a substantial off court blow with Wollongong Coal pulling out of their major sponsorship 1.5 years into a 5-year contract. The Hawks subsequently decided to place themselves into Voluntary Administration on 2 March 2015.[3][4] On 25 March 2015, the Hawks secured Multi Civil and Rail as their major sponsor, as the company committed to a one-year deal.[5]

Name, logo and uniforms

The team's colours are red and white. The logo consists of a red hawk with smaller text "Wollongong" 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 white uniforms for away games.

Season-by-season records

Wollongong Hawks season summary
Season Results Finals Coach Captain
1979
8th (5-13)
-
Joe Farrugia
Bob Kubbinga
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
1990 8th (13-13) -
1991 13th (6-20) -
1992 5th (13-11) Quarter Finalists
1993 6th (15-11) Quarter Finalists
Alan Black
1994 8th (13-13) Quarter Finalists
1995 7th (14-12) Quarter Finalists
1996 10th (9-17) -
Brendan Joyce
1997 11th (7-23) - Matt Zauner
1998 6th (14-16) Elimination Finalists
Clayton Ritter
1998–99 3rd (16-10) Semi Finalists
1999–00 8th (11-17) - Eric Cooks
2000–01 4th (21-7) Champions
Mat Campbell &
Glen Saville
2001–02 4th (16-14) First Round
2002–03 4th (18-12) Semi Finalists
2003–04 2nd (28-8) Semi Finalists
Mat Campbell
2004–05 2nd (20-12) Grand Finalists
2005–06 3rd (19-13) Quarter Finalists Rotating Captaincy
2006–07 10th (11-12) -
Brendan Joyce, Eric Cooks
Glen Saville
2007–08 11th (9-21) -
Eric Cooks
Mat Campbell
2008–09 7th (9-19) -
2009–10 2nd (16-12) Grand Finalists
Gordie McLeod
2010–11 5th (15-13) -
2011–12 8th (9-19) -
2012–13 3rd (13-15) Semi Finalists
Oscar Forman
2013–14 4th (13-15) Semi Finalists
2014–15 8th (6-22) -

Source:[1]

Home arena

The Wollongong 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 Wollongong 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 Illawarra Basketball Stadium for twenty seasons since the club's inception in 1979. They continue to use the stadium as a training facility and play pre-season games there also.

Current roster

Wollongong Hawks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt.
PG 0 United States Carson, Jahii (I) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 82 kg (181 lb)
G 1 United States Ervin, Gary (I) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 81 kg (179 lb)
G 2 Australia Demos, Tyson 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 84 kg (185 lb)
SG 3 Australia Cooks, Dominique 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb)
G/F 6 Australia Hill, Brad 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 90 kg (198 lb)
F 7 Australia Forman, Oscar (C) 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 98 kg (216 lb)
PG 8 Australia Adnam, Kyle (DP) 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 83 kg (183 lb)
SF 9 Australia Jamieson, Luke (DP) 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 80 kg (176 lb)
F/C 10 Australia Davidson, Larry 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
PG 13 Australia Martin, Rhys 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 79 kg (174 lb)
SF 22 Australia Coenraad, Tim 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
C 50 Australia Nevill, Luke 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) 120 kg (265 lb)
F/C 54 Australia Ballinger, Adam 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 110 kg (243 lb)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • United States Eric Cooks
  • Australia Matt Flinn
  • Australia David Boyle (Strength & Conditioning)
General manager
  • Australia Greg Binskin
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 30 October 2014

Depth Chart

Pos. Starter Bench Bench Reserve
C Luke Nevill Larry Davidson
PF Oscar Forman Adam Ballinger
SF Tim Coenraad Brad Hill Luke Jamieson
SG Gary Ervin Tyson Demos Dominique Cooks
PG Rhys Martin Jahii Carson Kyle Adnam

Head 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 (1980–82 and 1984–88) to have accomplished this when took over from Cooks in 2009.

Retired jerseys

Wollongong Hawks retired numbers
No. Player Position Seasons
4 Chuck Harmison F / C 1979–1986
5 Gordie McLeod PG 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

Honour Roll

NBL Championships: 1 (2001)
NBL Finals Appearances: 18 (1984, 1986–87, 1992–95, 1998–99, 2001–06, 2010, 2013, 2014)
NBL Grand Final appearances: 3 (2001, 2005, 2010)
NBL Most Valuable Players: Mike Jones (1981), Gary Ervin (2011), Rotnei Clarke (2014)
NBL Grand Final MVPs: Glen Saville (2001)
All-NBL First Team: Doug Overton (1992), Melvin Thomas (1993), Darnell Mee (2005), Cortez Groves (2006), Tywain McKee (2010), Gary Ervin (2011), Rotnei Clarke (2014)
NBL Coach of the Year: David Lindstrom (1987), Alan Black (1993,'95), Brendan Joyce (1999, 2001), Gordie McLeod (2010, 2014)
NBL Rookie of the Year: Greg Hubbard (1987), Justin Withers (1989), Axel Dench (2001)
NBL Most Improved Player: C. J. Bruton (2001), Cameron Tragardh (2008), Oscar Forman (2011)
NBL Best Defensive Player: Glen Saville (2003), Darnell Mee (2005)
NBL Best Sixth Man: Adris Deleon (2013), Kevin Tiggs (2014)

Source: NBL AWARD WINNERS

Club MVP

List of Wollongong Hawks MVP award winners
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Year Name Year Name Year Name Year Name
1980Not awarded 1990 Norman Taylor 2000 Glen Saville &
Melvin Thomas		 2010 Larry Davidson
1981Not awarded 1991 Norman Taylor 2001 Glen Saville 2011 Gary Ervin
1982Not awarded 1992 Doug Overton 2002 Melvin Thomas 2012
1983Not awarded 1993 Melvin Thomas 2003 Glen Saville 2013
1984Not awarded 1994 Melvin Thomas 2004 Glen Saville 2014 Rotnei Clarke
1985Not awarded 1995 Melvin Thomas 2005 Glen Saville 2015
1986Not awarded 1996 Terry Johnson 2006 Cortez Groves2016
1987Not awarded 1997 Clayton Ritter 2007 Adam Ballinger2017
1988Not awarded 1998 Clayton Ritter 2008 Kavossy Franklin 2018
1989Norman Taylor 1999 C. J. Bruton 2009 2019

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Season by Season". HawksHistory.com.au. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Hawks under new Ownership
  3. ↑ Hawks Announcement
  4. ↑ Wollongong Hawks Announcement
  5. ↑ Wollongong Hawks land new sponsor

External links