St. Joseph’s Hawks Outlook

The best news for Saint Joseph’s came in June when 6-7 sophomore guard/forward Jordan Hall took himself out of the transfer portal and returned. An All-Atlantic rookie team pick, Jordan averaged 10.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game last season with 25 steals.

Hall and 6-8 senior forward Taylor Funk are Coach Billy Lange top two returnees as Saint Joseph’s won four of its last five games highlighted by Atlantic 10 wins over Dayton (97-84) and Richmond (76-73), and a pair of victories over Big 5 rival LaSalle (91-82 and 72-66).

After missing the last 25 games of the 2019-2020 campaign due to injury, Funk had his best season in 2020-2021 as he averaged 17.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game with a team-high 15 blocked shots. He became the 58th player in Saint Joseph’s history to score over 1,000 points in their career as he has produced 1,069 points and 485 rebounds in 92 career games for the Hawks.

Atrio of 6-5 junior guards and part-time starters Jack Forrest, Dahmir Bishop and Cameron Brown return to the Hawk roster for the 2021-2022 season. Forrest (10.4 points per game), Brown (8.6) and Bishop (7.7) combined for 31 starts last season with 436 points, 164 rebounds and 85 assists last season.

Transfers Ejike Obinna and Charles Coleman have been added to the roster along with 6-8 freshman guard Kacper Klaczek. A 6-10 graduate transfer from Vanderbilt, Obinna appeared in 75 career games (33 starts) at Commodores with 221 points and 222 rebounds. A 7-0 sophomore transfer from East Carolina, Coleman appeared in 39 games for the Pirates. A Poland native, Klaczek has extensive European youth tournament experience and played the last two seasons at Long Island Lutheran.

Prior to opening the Paycom Wooden Legacy against USC, in the first meeting between the two schools since December 1949 when the Trojans won 79-65 in Philadelphia. Saint Joseph’s will play four home games against Maryland Eastern Shore (November 9), Mount St. Mary’s (November 13), Drexel (November 17) and Monmouth (November 20) before traveling to Anaheim. Saint Joseph’s is appearing in its second Paycom Wooden Legacy.