Losing Streak Reaches Four

After starting the season 3-0, the Hawks have now lost four games in a row. Looking ahead at the schedule, it appears that things could get worse before they get better as well. Saint Joseph's next two games are against Villanova and at Minnesota.

The Hawks fell to Cornell 78-66 earlier today in Ithaca, New York. Ending the first half on a 7-0 run, the Hawks were tied with Cornell and appeared to be set for a battle against the Big Red. A few minutes into the second half, that appeared a lost cause. The Big Red stormed out of the gate in the second half and turned a close contest into what amounted to a blowout.

Seniors Darrin Govens and Garrett Williamson both struggled from the field in the loss, going a combined 5 of 18. The Hawk frontcourt of Todd O'Brien, Idris Hilliard, and Bryant Irwin combined for only 12 rebounds, as the Hawks were once again badly outrebounded. Today's rebounding margin of 10 is identical to the margin on Monday night against Rider.

The Big Red shot 46% from 3-point land today as well, going 11-24.

The Hawks play Wednesday night against Villanova at 9 pm on ESPN2. The Wildcats currently lead Maryland by 9 at the half.

Paterson Catholic and Derrick Randall in S. Jersey Saturday

Paterson Catholic will be in the Philadelphia area on Saturday afternoon scrimmaging Daryus Quarles' former team, Life Center Academy. Paterson Catholic features a number of tremendously talented players, including Texas commit Myck Kabongo, Seton Hall commit Fuquan Edwin, sophomore stud Kyle Anderson, Jayon James, and TJ Clemmings. They also feature a junior bigman that the Hawks have shown interest in: Derrick Randall. Randall appears to be one of the Hawk post targets in the class of 2011, claiming to hold an SJU offer. The scrimmage will take place at Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey on Saturday at 3 pm.

It has been quiet on here lately. An article on the Academy of the New Church should be up in the coming day or two though. As well as a preview of Sunday's SJU-Cornell game.

Thanks for checking in.

Live Blogging During SJU-Rider Game Tonight

Hawk Hill Hardwood will be blogging live during the 7 o'clock game tonight against Rider. If you don't get the game on television and ESPN Gametracker just isn't doing it for you, check back here where we will be updating regularly throughout the game.

Just over 15 minutes left in the first half. 14-10 Rider. Todd O'Brien has 3 straight buckets for the Hawks. Rider for the and one when we return from the timeout.

Just under 12 minutes left in the first half. 22-17 Rider. Hawks tied it up at 17 before a 5-0 Rider run. Lots of open looks and offensive rebounds for Rider so far.

Hawks have tied the ballgame at 25 with 7:40 left in the first half. In his first minutes ever, Justin Crosgile has 4 quick points for the Hawks on a driving layup and two freethrows. 8-0 run for the Hawks.

3 minutes left in the first half. Hawks up 4. Govens hit a corner 3 ball to go up 37-31 before Rider hit a layup.

Halftime: Rider leads 43-30. Rider ended the half with an 8-0 run. It's been a game of runs so far. First team to 80 wins?

13 minutes left in Half 2. Rider up 54-48. Turnovers and bad defense will do that.

Just over 7 minutes left in the half and Rider is up a point. 7-0 run for Rider. Justin Crosgile with the pass of the season so far; half court alley oop to Garrett Williamson.

Hawk lose a tough one 81-73. At one point, going 2-15 from the field. A game filled with runs, and Rider had more of them.

Zagsblog- Parcells Donates $100,000 to the Friars

Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog has a nice article up on New Jersey native Bill Parcells' recent donation of 100 grand to Saint Anthony High School in Jersey City.

The school has had economic struggles in recent times, and Parcells said that he understands the significance of a solid high school education.

The Saint Anthony Friars basketball team is coached by Bob Hurley Sr. (pictured above) and is one of the most successful high school programs in America.

Anyone unfamiliar with the school or the great work that Hurley does there should pick up Adrian Wojnarowski's The Miracle of Saint Anthony.

A documentary of Hurley's undefeated team of two years ago, entitled The Street Stops Here will be aired on PBS in March.

A link to the Zagsblog article is below:

Zagsblog Aricle-Bill Parcells' Donation

Here is a trailer to the documentary as well:

The Street Stops Here Trailer

Five Games In

Five games into the 2009-2010 campaign and the Saint Joseph's Hawks sit a game over .500 at 3-2. The Hawks won their first two home games at the Hagan Arena over Drexel and Holy Cross. Over the weekend, the Hawks participated in the Paradise Jam tournament in the US Virgin Islands. On Friday night, the Hawks upset the Boston College Eagles behind strong performances by a senior and a freshman. Senior guard Garrett Williamson had one of his best performances to date, finishing the game with 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Freshman guard Tay Jones had 16 points, tying him with Darrin Govens as the game's second leading scorer.

On Sunday, following their upset of the BC Eagles, the Hawks faced the seventh-ranked team in America: the Purdue Boilermakers. The Hawks looked strong early and trailed by only one at the half. The second half was a completely different story as the Boilermaker defense completely took it to the Hawks, leading to a total of 23 turnovers for the game. Garrett Williamson, coming off a brilliant performance against Boston College, led offenders with 8 turnovers.

On Monday night, the Hawks played in the third-place game against a DePaul team that went 0-18 in the Big East last season. On top of that, DePaul was without Mac Koshwal, who is hands-down their best post player. Despite both of those things, the Blue Demons won a nailbiter against the Hawks. The Hawks frontcourt of Todd O'Brien, Idris Hilliard, Bryant Irwin, and Carl Baptiste combined for only 7 points and 13 rebounds. On the bright side, the Hawks got a surprising 9 point effort out of junior guard Charoy Bentley (pictured above). Sophomore guard Chris Prescott had another impressive performance, finishing with 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. Prescott is shooting an eye-popping 8-12 from three so far this season.

The Hawks now have a week off before a tough stretch of games that begins with a game at Rider next Monday.

Roberts to Saint John's

Yesterday, Hawk Hill Hardwood reported that Saint Peter's Prep forward Ronald Roberts could possibly be making his college decision today, the final day of the early signing period. That decision has apparently been made, according to Jeff Borzello of NBE Basketball Blog.

Borzello spoke to Roberts earlier today and Roberts confirmed that he made his college choice: the Saint John's Red Storm.

The article is linked below:

Roberts to Saint John's

Interview with the Galloways

Last night, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to speak with one of the Saint Joseph's Hawks exceptional 2010 recruits, Langston Galloway, and his father Larry. They were kind enough to take some time out of their day to answer some of my questions. I spoke with Mr. Larry Galloway first and then Langston.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: All coaches take different approaches in trying to recruit players to their program. You read about how some coaches stress academics while others stress ESPN appearances and others stress facilities. What approach were you most impressed by?

Larry Galloway: You get different opinions from different coaches. Coach Phil Martelli's approach to it all was the best. Coach Martelli visited Langston at school here in Louisiana and spoke a lot about life after ball. He spoke about being a man and taking on life. He was the best supportive coach that we heard from and described just a great atmosphere.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Building on that, you mentioned a great atmosphere. Although you aren't actually going to the school to play, this is an extremely important decision for you as well. What type of atmosphere were you looking for? Obviously Saint Joe's has a smaller and more intimate atmosphere. Is that something that appealed more than a big state school?

Larry Galloway: We were looking for a school that would put a good support group around Langston. Since we are from Louisiana, there could be homesickness so a good support group was important for all of us. The assistant coaches were all very supportive, and assistant coach Geoff Arnold is my wife's brother. My wife's family is another support group. She has about 7 family members in the Philadelphia area, including Geoff and other brothers. She also has sisters in the area and her mother, all in Darby Township. The alumni at Saint Joe's are also a positive thing, so is that it's a Jesuit school where people come together.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Lastly, before asking Langston some questions, I have one more for you. Some pictures made their way online last week of Langston's signing ceremony. That was a large gathering. Who was there that day?

Larry Galloway: I had four family members there for Langston's signing ceremony. Lots of the other people in the picture were my wife's friends. The principal was also there and so were Langston's teammates and other people from CLA (Christian Life Academy) that have been there since Langston's freshman year. I went out and bought a lot of Saint Joe's tee shirts for people there to wear. We wanted to show that Langston has a supportive group around him. It was a great signing day.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Thanks a lot Larry. Langston, have you gotten a chance to speak with Coach Martelli yet?

Langston Galloway: I spoke with Coach Martelli that night and he welcomed me to Saint Joe's. He told me that school was going to be a great experience.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Since you live in Louisiana, most Hawk fans have not gotten a chance to see you play. How would you describe your game?

Langston Galloway: I'm a shooter, but I can also distribute the ball. I'm a pass-first guard. I also like to attack the basket. I'm just an all-around basketball player.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: When the Hawks were recruiting you, did they recruit you as an all-around guard or to a specific position?

Langston Galloway: They said that I'm going to play the 1 a little bit and the 2 a little bit.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: When you narrowed your list of schools down toward the end, what other schools were you considering in addition to SJU?

Langston Galloway: I was looking at Texas A and M, Baylor, LSU, Cincinatti, Oklahoma State, and Stanford too.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: When you came up to Philadelphia over the summer, what did you think of the new facilities? You probably heard about the old Fieldhouse and how bad they were. Did the new facilities play a role in your decision?

Langston Galloway: Yes they did. They played a big part in my decision. I got to see the remodeling of the offices and the locker room and everything. My uncle played here and was here before all of this. I got to see the old offices and the new ones are so much bigger.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Did you have to duck when you walked into the old offices?

Langston Galloway: (laughing) I did.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Langston, have you gotten a chance to meet or speak with any of the other guys that will be arriving on campus with you next year?

Langston Galloway: I got to talk to CJ Aiken and meet him. I also got to meet the one that hasn't signed yet, Roberts. I got to meet Daryus Quarles for like a second at the Peach Jam, but we didn't get much time to talk.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Are you excited about playing with them?

Langston Galloway: Really excited. Playing with great players just makes you a better player.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Your high school season starts soon. You play in a tournament in Tampa and also get to play in the New Orleans Hornets stadium. What are your expectations for this season?

Langston Galloway: We're expecting a better season this season. Last year we made it to the semifinals and we are trying to redeem ourselves this year and win the state.

Hawk Hill Hardwood: Good luck this season Langston. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Hawk fans are very excited about your arrival next year.

Langston Galloway: Thank you.