Illawarra Hawks
2025–26 Illawarra Hawks season
Leagues	NBL
Founded	1979; 46 years ago (1979)
History	Illawarra Hawks 1979–1998; 2015–2020; 2021–present Wollongong Hawks 1998–2015 The Hawks 2020–2021
Arena	WIN Entertainment Centre
Location	Wollongong, New South Wales
Team colors	Black, red, white
General manager	Mat Campbell
Head coach	Justin Tatum
Team captain	Sam Froling Tyler Harvey
Ownership	Crest Sport & Entertainment
Championships	2 (2001,2025)
Retired numbers	5 (4,5,12,32,33)
Website	Hawks.com.au
Home Away

TheIllawarra Hawks (formerly theWollongong Hawks andThe Hawks) are an Australian professionalbasketball team based inWollongong,New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in theNational Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games atWIN Entertainment Centre, known colloquially as "The Sandpit".^[1] The Illawarra Hawks are the only remaining NBL team to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979. The team won their first NBL Championship in2001, their second in2025, and have finished as runners-up in2005,2010 and2017.

The team began as theIllawarra Hawks in theNew South Wales Men's Division 1 championship^[2] before joining theNational Basketball League (NBL) for itsinaugural season in 1979. The Hawks played out ofBeaton Park Stadium, commonly known as "The Snakepit". In 1981, importMike Jones was namedNBL Most Valuable Player. In 1987, the Hawks had their best season to date, finishing in third place with a 20–6 record.

In 1998, the team was renamed theWollongong Hawks and moved intoWIN Entertainment Centre, known as the Sandpit, with Beaton Park remaining as their office and training facility. The venue is also home toBasketball Illawarra's representative side, also known as the 'Illawarra Hawks'.

The 2000/01 season marked history for the Hawks as they won their maiden NBL Championship. Prior to the start of the season, coachBrendan Joyce changed almost half his roster, addingCharles Thomas,Damon Lowery, Grant Kruger,Matt Shanahan and Axel Dench. After finishing the regular season in fourth with a club-best 21 wins from 28 games, Wollongong upset Perth in the first round of the post-season before conquering Adelaide when Lowery sunk three free throws with no time on the clock in game three of the semi-final series.^[3] The Hawks went on to beat Townsville 2–1 in the grand final to capture the team's only title.^[4] The Hawks became the first New South Wales team to reach and win a grand final in the NBL's 23-year history.^[5]

The Hawks returned to the NBL Grand Final in 2004/05, where they lost to theSydney Kings.

In February 2009, captainMat Campbell started the "Save the Hawks" campaign after the ownership group declared the team would not be able to join revamped league in 2009/10 on financial grounds. 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. A not-for-profit community-based company formed as Wollongong Hawks Basketball Limited was established to operate the Hawks into the future.

In2009/10, they made their third appearance in the grand final series, this time coming up short to thePerth Wildcats. In 2010/11, importGary Ervin was named MVP of the league, becoming the first Hawk to win the award since Mike Jones in 1981. In 2013/14, importRotnei Clarke was named MVP of the league, becoming the third Hawk to win the award.

In July 2014, a new era was ushered in by the Hawks after Telecommunications entrepreneur James Spenceley was successful in his bid to become the organisation's new owner.^[6] However, following a dismal 2014/15 season, the organisation was dealt a substantial off-court blow with Wollongong Coal withdrawing their major sponsorship 1½ years into a five-year contract. The Hawks subsequently decided to place themselves into Voluntary Administration on 2 March 2015.^[7][8] On 25 March 2015, the Hawks secured Multi Civil and Rail as their major sponsor, as the company committed to a one-year deal.^[9]

On 22 June 2015, the organisation announced that the team would revert to its original name, theIllawarra Hawks, to better reflect not only the city of Wollongong, but also the surrounding area including the city ofShellharbour, the town ofKiama and theWingecarribee Shire.^[10][11]

Following long-time coachGordie McLeod's departure,Rob Beveridge was signed as head coach for the 2015/16 season. He nabbed the trio of New Zealand sharp shooterKirk Penney, big manAJ Ogilvy, and US point guardKevin Lisch. The trio were dubbed "the three-headed monster",^[12] but they were unsuccessful in leading the Hawks to a championship, falling short in the semi-finals. Lisch was named MVP of the league, becoming the fourth Hawk to win the award.

With Lisch and Penney departing after one season, the Hawks reacquired the serves of Rotnei Clarke for the 2016/17 season. He helped them reach the NBL Grand Final for the first time since 2010, where they were defeated 3–0 by the Perth Wildcats.

On 17 June 2019, high school phenomLaMelo Ball announced onESPN'sThe Jump that he will sign with the Illawarra Hawks.^[13][14] Ball became the second high school phenom to enter the NBL's Next Stars program for the 2019–20 NBL season, withR. J. Hampton of theNew Zealand Breakers being the first. The pair played against each other on 24 October 2019, with the game between the Hawks and the New Zealand Breakers becoming the most watched game in NBL history with nearly two million views globally on Facebook.^[15]

In April 2020, the NBL took back the licence for the Illawarra Hawks after the club was placed into voluntary administration.^[16] In May 2020, creditors voted to liquidate the Hawks, but the NBL vowed to keep club alive.^[17] On 17 June 2020 the NBL announced that Dorry Kordahi,Bryan Colangelo and Michael Proctor had been awarded the license for the club.^[18]

Under the agreement with the new ownership, the team was renamedThe Hawks, in an effort to broaden the team's appeal in New South Wales.^[19][16] The NBL faced fierce backlash to the decision to strip the Illawarra name, and in February 2021 the NBL agreed to allow the club to be renamed the Illawarra Hawks after a successful campaign by the new owners to boost membership and corporate support.^[20]

In the2022–23 season, the Hawks had four imports suffer season-ending injuries:Justin Robinson,George King,Peyton Siva andMichael Frazier II.^[21]

In the2024–25 season, the Hawks earned their first ever minor premiership by finishing on top of the ladder^[22] with a 20–9 record.^[23][24] They went on to reach the NBL Grand Final with a 2–1 semi-finals series victory over theSouth East Melbourne Phoenix.^[25] In the grand final series, the Hawks andMelbourne United split the first four games, each winning their two games on the road. In a game three loss at home, importTrey Kell suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of game four. In game four in Melbourne, the Hawks lost centreSam Froling to anAchilles injury in the second quarter but went on to win the game and send the series to game five in Wollongong.^[26] Kell returned in game five and alongsideWilliam Hickey, helped the Hawks win the championship with a 114–104 series-clinching victory. It marked the Hawks' first championship since 2001.^[27][28] The team was subsequently presented with thekeys to the city by theCity of Wollongong, a common practice when a Wollongong sporting team wins a national title.^[29]

The team's colours are red and white. The logo consists of a red hawk with large centred text of "Hawks". The Hawk is holding a basketball in its talons. Predominately black uniforms are used for home games, and predominantly white uniforms for away games.

The Hawks play their home games atWIN Entertainment Centre,Wollongong, which holds a capacity of 6,000 seats when in full basketball format. The Hawks are the only full-time tenants at the arena and have been playing at the arena since the1998–99 NBL season.

Prior to this season, the Hawks played out of the 2,000 seatBeaton Park Stadium (also known as theIllawarra 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 theIllawarra Steelersrugby league team would sit behind the opposition bench during Hawks home games at Beaton Park in a bid to intimidate the opposing team.^{[citation needed]} The Hawks continue to use the stadium as a training facility and also play some pre-season games there.

The Hawks record home attendance of 5,839 was set on 18 February 2005 against theSydney Kings at the WIN Entertainment Centre during Round 21 of the2004–05 NBL season.

• Beaton Park Stadium (1979–1998)
• WIN Entertainment Centre (1998–present)

Illawarra Hawks retired numbers
No.	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
4		Chuck Harmison	F/C	1988–1996
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

Illawarra Hawks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. C 0 McGee, JaVale (I) 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 122 kg (269 lb) G 1 Harvey, Tyler (I & C) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 84 kg (185 lb) G 2 Ball, Jackson (DP) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 82 kg (181 lb) G 6 Hickey, William 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 92 kg (203 lb) G 8 Antonio, Jonah (NRP) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G/F 9 Swaka Lo Buluk, Wani 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G 10 McDowell-White, Kobe 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 98 kg (216 lb) G/F 11 Grida, Daniel 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) F/C 13 Froling, Sam  (C) 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 109 kg (240 lb) G 14 Bayles, Biwali 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb) G 16 Narkle, Johny (DP) 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 79 kg (174 lb) F/C 19 Yates, Luca (DP) 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 102 kg (225 lb) F 21 Blanchfield, Todd 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb) F 22 Peatling, Mason 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 105 kg (231 lb) C 31 Froling, Harry (IRP) 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 123 kg (271 lb) F 43 Bolden, Jonah  2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 106 kg (234 lb) G 77 Peterson, Q. J. (I) 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 84 kg (185 lb)	Head coach Justin Tatum Assistant coach(es) Tom Cranney Matt Flinn Sam Gruggen Joel Khalu Strength & conditioning coach(es) Alex Moore Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player (TP) Training player (IRP) Injury replacement player (NRP) Nominated replacement player (NS) Next Star player Injured Roster Updated: 2 November 2025

There have been twelve 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 (in2000–01) and claim runners-up (in2004–05). He was also the first coach to claim runners-up in the regular season (in2003–04). Both Joyce (2004–05) andGordie 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.

As of the end of the2024–25 season

*Note: In 1983 and 1984, the NBL was split into Eastern and Western divisions during the regular season.

Source:^[1]

Source:NBL AWARD WINNERSArchived 13 August 2012 at theWayback Machine

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