NBL27 Starts Here: Hawks Host Saint Mary's Gaels in Preseason Opener

Thursday 13th August. Doors 6:15pm. Tip-off 7:00pm.  

The Snakepit hosts the Illawarra Hawks against Saint Mary's Gaels of California, and this is more than a warm-up game. It's the first look at the roster that carries the red and black through NBL27, and it's a night stitched together by more Wollongong connections than any preseason fixture we've hosted in years.

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Your first look at NBL27

New season, new roster, first time out in front of a home crowd. This is where Hawkheads get to see what the club is building. Bring the whole family down, because nights like this set the tone for the season that follows.

A homecoming wrapped in a rivalry

Saint Mary's Gaels aren't a random American college dropping into Wollongong for a scrimmage. For 25 years this program has been known across Australian basketball as "the Aussie Pipeline," and on Thursday night that pipeline runs straight through The Snakepit.

Start with the guy in a Gaels jersey who grew up playing at The Snakepit. Joshua Dent, Illawarra junior, Saint Mary's sophomore guard and brother of former Hawk Lachlan. Josh chose the college path. Thursday August 13th, he brings his team 'home'.

Alongside him is Flynn Pavely, an 18 year old from Sydney, about to get another taste of the vocal Snakepit crowd as a Saint Mary's freshman, just a few months after suiting up for the COE in the NBL1.

Then there's the sideline history. Adam Caporn wore the Hawks singlet during his own NBL career. He's now head coach of the Australian Boomers, and back in 2001 he was the first Australian ever recruited to Saint Mary's. Every Australian who's followed him into that program, more than 20 players and counting, owes something to a Hawk. Point guard Emmett Naar walked the same path: four years at Saint Mary's, then four NBL seasons in Hawks colours.

And long before any of that, in the early 1980s, a young American forward named Eric Cooks spent time at Saint Mary's, more than fifteen years before the college ever earned its "Aussie Pipeline" nickname. Cooks later crossed the Pacific himself, wore the Hawks jersey as a player, then spent over two decades on the Illawarra bench as a coach and assistant. Two clubs, one long and tangled history, decades before either side knew it.

Long-time NBL forward and now Wollongong local Lucas Walker rounds out the connection. This isn't the Gaels' first trip to Australia either, with previous visits in 2013 and 2018 still talked about by the fans who were there.

NBA Connection

Saint Mary's has sent its share of players to the NBA too. Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova and Jock Landale all wore the Gaels jersey on their way to the biggest league on earth.  

That's a lot of history walking through the doors for a preseason game. Come see where it started.

Come and see the next big thing.

Tickets: members are up first, because that's what being a Hawks member means

Hawks members can access presale tickets from Monday until Sunday, a week before anyone else gets a look in.

That's the whole point of membership: first access, and a discounted price of $20 for adults and $10 for juniors.

Tickets

• ‍Member presale access details will be sent to your email on Monday July 13th. That's your way in before the general public.
• General Public Update (20th July 2026):  Tickets now on sale

Not a member yet?

Remaining tickets open to the public once the presale window closes on Sunday 19th July. Watch this space and our socials for the on sale announcement.

That's a preseason game most fans don't get, players who left home for the big college programs, coming back to play the on the court that helped shape them.  

Members get first access to tickets before anyone else.  Be a Hawks member to beat the queue.