The Hawks know a thing or two about losing great players to the NCAA Transfer Portal after Lamar Kimble ’19 and Jared Bynum entered at the end of last year.

Kimble is currently starting for the sixth-ranked University of Louisville Cardinals while Bynum is sitting out this year for Providence College.

With the departure of Kimble and Bynum, St. Joe’s Head Coach Billy Lange had a tough task ahead of him to recruit ready-to-start players who could compete in a cutthroat Atlantic 10 Conference, which is expecting anywhere from two to four bids to the NCAA Tournament this season.

Lange wasted little time in his recruitment of Greg Foster Jr. after Foster announced his intent to transfer from Gonzaga University on June 7, 2019. It was a mere 10 days later that Foster released a statement committing to play for the Hawks. Foster was a four-star recruit coming out of high school.

Foster is sidelined this season due to NCAA waiver regulations which require that players sit out of games for one full year following a transfer.

Although Foster is not playing in what would be his sophomore season, he will maintain three years of NCAA eligibility. The goal of the transfer period is to allow players to acclimate to their new school and community prior to having the added stress of being a student athlete.

Foster is expected to have a starting role on the team next season. Although he received minimal minutes while at Gonzaga University behind two senior point guards in Josh Perkins and Geno Crandall, Foster proved in those minutes that he is a dynamic player who makes his teammates play better.

Foster’s father, Greg Foster Sr., and Lange were on the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff together in 2013.

The acquisition of Foster was important for Lange and the Hawks coaching staff because it showed other recruits that the Hawks were looking to compete in the coming years.

Lange made a second transfer acquisition on Jan. 10, 2020. This time, it was the Philadelphia native Dahmir Bishop, who chose to transfer from Xavier University in the middle of his freshman season after not receiving the playing time he initially expected. Bishop is expected to come off the bench along with his former high school teammate freshman guard Chereef Knox.

Bishop has enrolled at St. Joe’s this semester which will allow his NCAA eligibility with the Hawks to begin in January 2021 rather than at the start of the 2021-22 season. Although it is unlikely that Bishop will be an immediate starter next season, he will provide crucial minutes off the bench as a role player.

The additions of Foster and Bishop to the Hawks roster next season will be huge. Lange attained two impressive players during a time that many expected the Hawks to sign two- and three-star recruits to fill out the roster. Foster and Bishop are highly sought after players that Lange and his coaching staff were able to win over. Foster and Bishop can do something to help the Hawks this season.

Even though Foster and Bishop will not be stepping onto the court this season, they are able to become leaders on a team that, right now, seems leader-less. At the end of the Hawks bench sits four players who will not be playing this season. Foster, Bishop, Anton Jansson and redshirt junior forward Taylor Funk.

These four players have the opportunity to show Lange, the coaching staff, their teammates and Hawks fans that they are willing to step up and be engaged in every game. When the Hawks are losing by 22 to George Washington University and senior guard Toliver Freeman snags an offensive rebound and lays it in cutting the lead to 20, I want all four of these players standing and cheering for him.

Foster and Bishop are going to be leaders on the Hawks next season and for the season to come. Why not start now?