Wollongong Hawks

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Wollongong Hawks

Established	1979
Team Colours	Red and White
Home Venue	Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
Major Sponsor	ahm
Championships	2000/01
Team History	Illawarra Hawks (1979-1998) Wollongong Hawks (1998/99-Present)
Chief Executive	Currently None
Coach	Eric Cooks
Captain	Mathew Campbell
Website	www.hawks.com.au

The Wollongong Hawks are a team competing in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), based in the New South Wales city of Wollongong. They won the NBL championship in 2001 and finished as runners-up in 2005.

1 History
2 Honour Roll
3 Club MVP
4 Current roster
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The Hawks are one of only two NBL clubs to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979 without relocating to another city (the other being the Brisbane Bullets). 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 Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

Previous to 1998 the Hawks played out of "The Snakepit" 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 changeroom. The snakepit is still in use by the Hawks as a training venue and for preseason matches.

The Hawks currently are under financial difficulty and as a result the team may be forced to withdraw prior to the completion of the current (2007/2008) season. A community ownership plan is currently being discussed along the lines of the Green Bay Packers of the American NFL^[1].

[edit] Honour Roll

NBL Championships:	1 (2001)
NBL Finals Appearances:	1984, 1986-87, 1992-95, 1998-99, 2001-06
NBL Grand Final appearances:	2 (2001, 2005)
NBL Most Valuable Players:	Mike Jones (1981)
NBL Grand Final MVPs:	Glen Saville (2001)
All-NBL First Team:	Doug Overton (1992), Melvin Thomas (1993), Darnell Mee (2005), Cortez Groves (2006)
NBL Coach of the Year:	David Lindstrom (1987), Alan Black (1993,'95), Brendan Joyce (1999, 2001)
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)
NBL Best Defensive Player:	Glen Saville (2003), Darnell Mee (2005)

^[2]

[edit] Club MVP

1989 Norman Taylor
1990 Norman Taylor
1991 Norman Taylor
1992 Doug Overton
1993 Melvin Thomas
1994 Melvin Thomas
1995 Melvin Thomas
1996 Terry Johnson
1997 Clayton Ritter
1998 Clayton Ritter
1999 CJ Bruton
2000 Glen Saville & Melvin Thomas
2001 Glen Saville
2002 Melvin Thomas
2003 Glen Saville
2004 Glen Saville
2005 Glen Saville
2006 Cortez Groves
2007 Adam Ballinger
2008 Kavossy Franklin

Source: www.hawks.com.au

[edit] Current roster

Wollongong Hawks Current Roster
Head Coach: Eric Cooks			Edit
G	32	Mathew Campbell -	(VIC; Towson University)
F	10	Larry Davidson	(NSW)
G	5	Kavossy Franklin *	(Texas; Augusta State University)
F	41	Talor Goodall #	(NSW)
F	9	Daniel Jackson	(NSW; Australian Institute of Sport)
G	8	Jeremy Kench	(NZ)
G	TBA	Rhys Martin #	(QLD; Nova Southeastern University)
G	4	Lindsay Tait	(NZ)
F	11	Cameron Tragardh	(QLD; Oral Roberts University)
* = Import, # = Development Player			Wollongong Hawks