Saskatchewan Hawks | |
---|---|
Leagues | International Basketball Association (2000–01) Continental Basketball Association (2001–02) |
Founded | 1998 |
Folded | 2002 |
History | Mansfield Hawks (1998–99) Youngstown Hawks (1999–00) Saskatchewan Hawks (2000–02) |
Arena | Saskatchewan Place |
Location | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
Championships | 0 |
The Saskatchewan Hawks were a professional basketball club based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 2000–01 season, and the Continental Basketball Association in 2001–02.[1]
The team moved to Saskatoon from Youngstown, Ohio, where the Hawks had played just one season, in the year 2000.[2] In Youngstown, the team was owned by former NBA owner Ted Stepien, but failed to gain traction, leading Stepian to move the team.[3] Tom Tao was the principal investor, purchasing 70 per cent of the team and bringing Saskatchewan its first professional team since the Saskatoon Slam folded in 1994.[4] During their lone IBA season in 2000–01, Saskatchewan finished third in their division and defeated the Billings RimRockers in the first round of playoffs, before losing to the eventual IBA-champion Dakota Wizards in the second round.[5] That season, the team was coached by Rob Spon. The IBA folded at the conclusion of the season.[4]
The team joined the Continental Basketball Association in 2001 after the IBA folded, along with the rival Wizards and Fargo-Moorhead Beez. The Hawks gave away more than 6,000 tickets for their season-opener.[2] In their first and only season in the CBA, the Hawks compiled the worst record in the league with just 8 wins in 40 matches. Their coach that year was Laurian Watkins. Tao disappeared from the team during the season and the league took over the team's operations, along with a local First Nations investment group. However, talks between the groups ultimately collapsed, and the team folded after the 2002 season.[2] Their final game was a 112–100 loss at home to the Beez on 22 March 2002.[4]
The Hawks collapse left the province without professional-level basketball until the founding of the Saskatchewan Rattlers, a charter member of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, in 2019.[6]
Season | League | W | L | GB | Postseason |
2000–01[5] | IBA | 21 | 19 | 9 | Won first-round over Billings RimRockers, 2–1
Lost second-round to Dakota Wizards, 2–0[5] |
2001–02[7] | CBA | 8 | 32 | 25 | Did not qualify |
Totals (2000–2002) | 29 | 51 | – |