Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball

Saint Joseph's Hawks
2015–16 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team
University	Saint Joseph's University
Head coach	Phil Martelli (21st season)
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Arena	Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena (Capacity: 4,200)
Nickname	Hawks
Colors	Crimson and Gray
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Final Four
1961
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1961, 1981, 2004
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1981, 1997, 2004
NCAA tournament appearances
1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2014
Conference tournament champions
1981, 1982, 1986, 1997, 2014
Conference regular season champions
1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

The Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team represents Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Saint Joe's competes as well as part of the Philadelphia Big 5. Saint Joseph's home court is the Hagan Arena. Through the years they have produced a number of NBA players. Saint Joseph's most bitter rivalry is with the Villanova Wildcats. Other rivals include the Temple Owls, the La Salle Explorers, the Penn Quakers, all of the Big 5. Saint Joseph's University's basketball program was ranked 43rd best of all-time by Smith & Street's magazine in 2005.

History

Men's basketball is the most popular sport at Saint Joseph's University. The Hawks have competed in twenty NCAA Tournaments (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2014) and sixteen NIT Tournaments (1956, 1958,1964, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013). They have made one Final Four (though their 3rd-place finish was later revoked by the NCAA, two Elite Eights, and seven Sweet Sixteens. The team is currently led by coach Phil Martelli. Throughout the school's history, 29 different players have been drafted into the NBA. The Hawks have been ranked 67 times in their history, 41 of which have been in the top 10. In 1981, SJU upset No. 1 DePaul to reach the Sweet 16 and eventually the Elite 8.

Perfect regular season

The 2003–2004 Saint Joseph's University Hawks were the last Division I College Basketball team to finish the Regular Season undefeated before the Wichita State Shockers did so in 2013-14. Saint Joseph's ended the regular season with a 27–0 record and secured a No. 1 national ranking and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

During the 2003–2004 season, the Saint Joseph's Hawks went undefeated (27–0) during the regular season, The Hawks were led by a backcourt of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West, both of whom were drafted in the 1st round of the 2004 NBA draft. The Hawks ended the regular season with a No. 1 ranking nationally and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. After beating Liberty, Texas Tech and #17 Wake Forest, St. Joe's made it to the East Regional Final in the NCAA tournament. They would lose to #4 Oklahoma State in the last seven seconds of the game. Nelson was named National Player of the Year while coach Phil Martelli was named Coach of the Year. In 2009, the 2004 Hawks were named the best single-season team of the decade by Sports Illustrated.

Saint Joseph's University hosted first and second round games of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The games were played at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 19 and March 21.

Current

The Hawks most recently made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. During the 2008–2009 season, St. Joe's played its home games at the Palestra while its new home arena was renovated. Saint Joseph's defeated Rider University in its first game at the Wachovia Center. The Hawks where named A10 Conference Champions in the 2013-2014 season with a win over VCU [Played in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York]

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Hawks have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 20 times. Their combined record is 18–24.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1959		Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	West Virginia Navy	L 92–95 L 56–70
1960		Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Duke West Virginia	L 56–58 L 100–106
1961		Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd Place Game	Princeton Wake Forest Ohio State Utah	W 72–67 W 96–86 L 69–95 W 127–1204OT
1962		Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Wake Forest NYU	L 85–96OT L 85–94
1963		First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Princeton West Virginia Duke	W 82–81OT W 97–88 L 59–73
1965		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Connecticut Providence NC State	W 67–61 L 73–81OT L 81–103
1966		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Providence Duke Davidson	W 65–48 L 74–76 W 92–76
1969		First Round	Duquesne	L 52–74
1971		First Round	Villanova	L 75–93
1973		First Round	Providence	L 76–86
1974		First Round	Pittsburgh	L 42–54
1981	#9	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#8 Creighton #1 DePaul #5 Boston College #3 Indiana	W 59–57 W 49–48 W 42–41 L 46–78
1982	#6	First Round	#11 Northeastern	L 62–63
1986	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 Richmond #14 Cleveland State	W 60–59 L 69–75
1997	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Pacific #5 Boston College #1 Kentucky	W 75–65 W 81–77OT L 68–83
2001	#9	First Round Second Round	#9 Georgia Tech #1 Stanford	W 66–62 L 83–90
2003	#7	First Round	#10 Auburn	L 63–65OT
2004	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#16 Liberty #8 Texas Tech #4 Wake Forest #2 Oklahoma State	W 82–63 W 70–65 W 84–80 L 62–64
2008	#11	First Round	#6 Oklahoma	L 64–72
2014	#10	Second Round	#7 Connecticut	L 81–89OT

NIT results

The Hawks have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 16 times. Their combined record is 16–16.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1956	Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Seton Hall Louisville St. Francis (NY)	W 74–65 L 79–89 W 93–82
1958	First Round Quarterfinals	Saint Peter's St. Bonaventure	W 83–76 L 75–79
1964	First Round Quarterfinals	Miami (FL) Bradley	W 86–76 L 81–83
1972	First Round	Maryland	L 55–67
1979	First Round	Ohio State	L 66–80
1980	First Round	Texas	L 61–70
1984	First Round	Boston College	L 63–75
1985	First Round Second Round	Missouri Virginia	W 68–67 L 61–68
1993	First Round	Southwest Missouri State	L 34–56
1995	First Round	Coppin State	L 68–75
1996	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Iona Providence Rhode Island Alabama Nebraska	W 82–78 W 82–62 W 76–59 W 74–69 L 56–60
2002	Opening Round First Round	George Mason Ball State	W 73–64 L 65–75
2005	Opening Round First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Hofstra Buffalo Holy Cross Texas A&M Memphis South Carolina	W 53–44 W 55–50 W 68–60 W 58–51 W 70–58 L 57–60
2006	First Round Second Round	Rutgers Hofstra	W 71–62 L 75–77
2012	First Round	Northern Iowa	L 65–67
2013	First Round	St. John's	L 61–63

Rivals

The main rival has been the Villanova University Wildcats which is locally referred to as the Holy War. Saint Joseph's also has a heated rivalry with the Temple University Owls, the La Salle University Explorers, and the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. Because games against Drexel University are in-city, the two teams are sometimes considered rivals but Saint Joseph's leads the all-time series 43 to 6. The all-time series between La Salle and the Hawks is 63 to 49 in SJU's favor. They are losing the all-time series against Temple 63 to 75, Villanova 25 to 47, and winning the series with Penn 45 to 32. Overall, the Hawks are 112–83 in the Big 5 which is the best among Big 5 schools.

Traditions

Fans of the Hawks often chant "The Hawk Will Never Die!". In a September 2003 issue, Sports Illustrated listed that cheer among The 100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate (Whatever the Cost), calling it "the most defiant cheer in college sports".

• Midnight Madness The first men's varsity basketball practice, Midnight Madness is an event which allows students and fans to attend. Players entertain the crowd by putting on events such as slam dunk contests.

• The Drum It is believed the Drum played a significant role in many important wins. The Drum leads the student section during fight songs and chants. Today this tradition lives on with a new generation of drummers.

• Rollouts During Big 5 match-ups, each student section prepares written messages on large rollouts that are passed down the crowd.

• The Double Dip Anytime the Saint Joseph's Hawks win the same day or night the Villanova Wildcats lose. The ultimate double dip occurs when the Hawks beat the Wildcats.

• Fight Songs 'When the Hawks Go Flying In' is sung before every game and 'Mine Eyes' is sung immediately after every game regardless of the outcome.

• Cheers Cheers include "Let's go St. Joe's!" and of course "The Hawk Will Never Die!" which is reserved for the end of games.

• 54th Airborne The student section at SJU basketball games is known for being deafening. At the Hagan Arena there are about 1,200 seats for students (over 1/4 of the total seating). The section, along with the pep band, leads the cheers for the rest of the crowd. The core members of the 54th Airborne make up the Student Booster Club. These students work to come up with the rollouts for Big 5 games.

Retired numbers

See also: Squad number § Retired numbers

The Hawks have retired four numbers for seven players, with No. 4 retired in honor of four players:

• 4: George Senesky, Jim Lynam, Paul Senesky, and Bill Oakes
• 14 Jameer Nelson
• 30 Cliff Anderson
• 44 Mike Bantom

Accolades and achievements

• In 2004, the Hawks—as Atlantic 10 East Division champions—were one of the three inaugural-year recipients of the Pride of Philadelphia Award from the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.
• In 2005, the Saint Joseph's University men's basketball team was ranked 43rd best of all-time by Smith & Street's magazine.
• In 2009, the 2004 Hawks were named the best single-season team of the decade (2000–2009) by Sports Illustrated.
• The Hawks have won seven Atlantic 10 regular season titles and two A-10 tournament championships and rank 33rd all-time in wins with 1,439 and 44th all-time with a .605 winning percentage.
• Saint Joseph's recently ranked 57th in the "Prestige Rankings" of the best programs since 1985 by ESPN.

Notable players

NBA Draftees

• 1957 – Round 4, Pick 2: Kurt Engelbert (Detroit Pistons)
• 1957 – Round 4, Pick 6: Ray Radziszewski (Philadelphia Warriors)
• 1959 – Round 6, Pick 3: Joe Spratt (Philadelphia Warriors)
• 1960 – Round 3, Pick 3: Bob McNeil (New York Knicks)
• 1960 – Round 7, Pick 7: Bob Clarke (Philadelphia Warriors)
• 1961 – Round 3, Pick 6: Jack Egan (Philadelphia Warriors)
• 1961 – Round 15, Pick 1: Vince Kempton (New York Knicks)
• 1964 – Round 3, Pick 8: Steve Courtin (Cincinnati Royals)
• 1966 – Round 1, Pick 9: Matt Guokas (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1966 – Round 5, Pick 9: Tom Duff (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1967 – Round 4, Pick 4: Cliff Anderson (Los Angeles Lakers)
• 1967 – Round 8, Pick 11: Al Grundy (San Diego Rockets)
• 1970 – Round 9, Pick 12: Mike Hauer (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1973 – Round 1, Pick 8: Mike Bantom (Phoenix Suns)
• 1973 – Round 2, Pick 10: Pat McFarland (New York Knicks)
• 1980 – Round 9, Pick 19: Luke Griffin (Philadelphia 76ers)
• 1981 – Round 8, Pick 15: John Smith (Portland Trail Blazers)
• 1982 – Round 2, Pick 2: Bryan Warrick (Washington Bullets)
• 1982 – Round 6, Pick 8: Jeff Clark (Indiana Pacers)
• 1982 – Round 9, Pick 11: Mark Dearborn (Portland Trail Blazers)
• 1984 – Round 2, Pick 10: Tony Costner (Washington Bullets)
• 1984 – Round 3, Pick 19: Kevin Springman (Detroit Pistons)
• 1985 – Round 5, Pick 5: Bob Lojewski (Sacramento Kings)
• 1986 – Round 1, Pick 16: Mo Martin (Denver Nuggets)
• 1987 – Round 7, Pick 3: Wayne Williams (New York Knicks)
• 2004 – Round 1, Pick 20: Jameer Nelson (Orlando Magic)
• 2004 – Round 1, Pick 24: Delonte West (Boston Celtics)
• 2009 – Round 2, Pick 26: Ahmad Nivins (Dallas Mavericks)

Active professional players

• CJ Aiken - Wilki Morskie Szczecin (Poland)
• Pat Calathes - BC Astana (Kazakhstan)
• Langston Galloway - New York Knicks (NBA)
• Carl Jones, "Tay" - Frayles de Guasave (Mexico)
• Jameer Nelson - Denver Nuggets (NBA)
• Ahmad Nivins - ASVEL Basket (France)
• Ronald Roberts - Raptors 905 (D-League)
• Garrett Williamson - London Lightning (Canada)
• Chris Wilson - Eisbaren Bremerhaven (Germany)

Men's basketball in Saint Joseph's athletics Hall of Fame

• Cliff Anderson (1999, Men's Basketball, '67)
• Mike Bantom (2000, Men's Basketball, '73)
• Rodney Blake (2001, Men's Basketball, '88)
• Harry Booth (2006, Baseball/Men's Basketball '62)
• Bill Ferguson (2006, Men's Basketball)
• Matt Guokas, Jr. (2000, Men's Basketball, '67)
• Mike Hauer (2011, Men's Basketball, '70)
• The Hawk (1999, Mascot, '56)
• Dan Kelly (2011, Men's Basketball, '70)
• Jim Lynam (2003, Men's Basketball, '63)
• Maurice Martin (2006, Men's Basketball, '86)
• Paul McDermitt (2006, Baseball/Men's Basketball/Golf/Track, '59)
• Pat McFarland (2005, Men's Basketball, '73)
• Jack McKinney (2004, Men's Basketball/Track, '57)
• Bob McNeill (2001, Men's Basketball, '60)
• Mighty Mites (2000, Men's Basketball, 1934–38)
• Jameer Nelson (2011, Men's Basketball, '04)
• Jack Ramsay (1999, Men's Basketball, '49)
• George Senesky (1999, Men's Basketball, '43)
• Joe Spratt (2002, Men's Basketball, '59)
• Tom Wynne (2003, Men's Basketball/Baseball. '63)

Current coaching staff

• Phil Martelli – Head Coach (1995–96)
• Mark Bass – Assistant Coach (1998–99)
• Dave Duda – Assistant Coach (2006–07)
• Geoff Arnold – Assistant Coach (2008–09)

Current Div. I Head Coaches Who Were Assistants at Saint Joseph's

• Matt Brady (1993–2004) – James Madison
• Phil Martelli (1985–1995) – Saint Joseph's
• Monte Ross (1996–2006) – Delaware

Alumni Who Are Current Div. I Coaches/Administrators

• Don DiJulia (1964–1965 – player) – Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics, Saint Joseph's
• Geoff Arnold (1982–1986 – player) – Assistant, Saint Joseph's
• Kevin Baggett (1986–1988 – player) – Head Coach, Rider
• Bruiser Flint (1983–1987 – player) – Head Coach, Drexel
• Mark Bass (1992–1996 – player) – Assistant, Saint Joseph's
• John Gallagher (1995–1999 – player) – Head Coach, Hartford
• Rich Carragher (1996–2000 – student manager) – Associate Athletics Director, Monmouth
• Matt Grady (1997–2001 – student assistant) – Associate Head Coach, Manhattan
• Bill Phillips (1999–2002 – player) – Assistant, James Madison
• Mike Farrelly (2001–2003 – player) – Assistant, Hofstra
• Dwayne Lee (2002–2006 – player) – Assistant, Fairleigh Dickinson
• Phil Martelli, Jr. (1999–2003 – player) – Assistant, Delaware
• Kevin Tirone (2001–2005 – student assistant) – Director of Basketball Operations, Rhode Island
• Taylor Trevisan (2010-2014 - player) - Assistant, Chestnut Hill
• Rob Sullivan (2003–2006 – player) – Director of Basketball Operations, Saint Joseph's
• Ryan Whalen (2005–2008 – student assistant) – Director of Basketball Operations, Seton Hall