Last year, the Hawks found themselves dead last in the 2019-20 Atlantic 10 (A-10) standings in what many wrote off as a rebuilding year during Billy Lange’s debut season as head men’s basketball coach on Hawk Hill. The only way they can go from there is up, right? 

The road to A-10 prominence, or even relevance, will not be an easy one, but one that the underestimated Hawks can take in the 2020-21 season. Hawks’ fans allowed Lange the benefit of the doubt in his first year after a mass exodus of talent from Hawk Hill preceded the season, but he won’t need the same allowance this year. On a condensed and urgent schedule, Lange showed a skill he was lauded for during his time at Villanova University: the ability to recruit. 

St. Joe’s will take the court this year with a mixture of seasoned veterans and highly touted fresh faces. Jordan Hall and Dahmir Bishop, who led their teams to Philadelphia Catholic League and Philadelphia Public League titles in high school, respectively, will bring to Hagan Arena the same grit that saw them top the most competitive high school leagues in the state. 

Hall was a 6-foot-7-inch facilitator at the point forward position on a Neumann Goretti High School team that was brimming with Division I talent and should be poised to make a substantial impact right away on Hawk Hill. The Hawks will also look for backcourt production from former three-star recruit and Gonzaga University transfer guard Greg Foster.

While the new faces may bring some unknowns, Lange and his staff know they can count on 20 points a night from senior guard Ryan Daly, who was snubbed from the A-10 preseason first team after leading the conference in scoring last year. They can count on four-year starters Anthony Longpré and a newly healthy Taylor Funk to battle for rebounds in the paint. Sophomore guard Rahmir Moore will bring scrappy defense, and guards Cameron Brown and Myles Douglas will bring a steady composure to the run-and-gun style the Hawks will look to play.

The Hawks ranked No. 12 of 13 in the 2020-21 A-10 preseason poll, which was topped by University of Richmond, led by dynamic guard Jacob Gilyard, St. Louis University and defending champion Dayton University, who departed AP National Player of the Year Obi Toppin, but will now lean on guard Jalen Crutcher to maintain their spot near the top of the A-10. 

The A-10 as a whole is coming off of one of its most prolific seasons in recent history. The conference played home to the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament that never was in Dayton. The A-10 has had four teams post single digit losses in the same year only once in the last 10 years. Last year they had five.

An escape from the depths of the conference should be the Hawks’ main goal, but they should set their sights higher. Despite their 6-26 record last year, they fought to compete in many games, specifically those against ranked opponents. They lost to Villanova University by 12 and Dayton by 13, two of the top 10 teams in the country by the end of the season. 

The Hawks showed flashes of bright spots last year and, with their new additions, can creep out from the bottom of the A-10. The conference may not be as cutthroat as it was last year, but for a team that posted only two conference wins last year, they’ll have to fight every time they take the floor. 

One takeaway from last year that had Hawks fans hopeful for a more successful season was that the team went to battle for Lange. They seemed to love playing for their coach’s high energy presence on the sidelines, and their gritty style of play reflected that, sometimes making up for areas where they lacked talent. This year they add talent, and will still be just as scrappy as they were in Lange’s first season. 

Last year, the Hawks were grounded in uncertainty, a collection of last second recruits and transfers taking the court alongside veterans who were thrust into an abrupt rebuild.

The uncertainty is still there this year, but Daly, Funk and Longpré will ease the transition to let the likes of Hall, Bishop, Brown and Moore lay a sturdy foundation for Hawks basketball in years to come. While some may consider this another year in a rebuild, I think the Hawks reloaded and can surprise some people in a likely mediocre A-10 where they were picked to finish twelfth.