Hawks Men's & Women's Basketball Kick Off 2022-23 season on the road

Hagerstown Community College men's and women's basketball take to the road today for the start of the 2022-23 season.

The Lady Hawks, have a new look with Head Coach, Christopher Grant at the helm following the retirement of longtime coach, Bernie Semler. Grant's coaching style brings his experiences from the junior college, 4 year college, and professional levels. He played for Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, while obtaining an associate's degree in Liberal Arts, and then transferred to Morgan State University, where he achieved All MIAC status playing for the Bears, along with his B.S. in Applied Liberal Arts. From there he played professionally for 6+ years over seas in Portugal, Finland, Iceland, Turkey, and the Dominican Republic. When asked about his thoughts about the direction of this year's team Grant replied, "I project for us to do pretty well. I'm excited about our returners, and look for the new-comers to mix in well for a successful year." Returning for the Hawks are sophomores, Saidat Abbas, a forward out of Duval High School, Favor Okpali, a center out of Bowie High School. Joining the Hawks are guards Kriah Stubbs out of Saint Maria Goretti High School, Susie Rodriguez out of Smithsburg High School, and Kayla Keyes out of North Hagerstown High School, guard/forward Jariah Russell out of Southern Maryland Christian Academy, forwards Makayla Rummell out of Smithsburg High School and Taylor Bullock-Beatty out of South Hagerstown High School, and center Chloe Bittner out of Williamsport High School. 

The Lady  Hawks play the Catamounts of WVU Potomac State today at 6:00 p.m. in Keyser, WV.  Tomorrow the Hawks host Harcum College, game time 1:30 p.m. in the ARCC.

Coach Bernard Hopkins brought a full gym of recruits to this year's men's team from his off-season recruiting efforts, and is adding new elements from Florida, Colorado, and Pittsburgh, PA to his returning squad from last year. "This is the best overall group of kids I have coached in my tenure at HCC.  We are solid at all of our starting positions, we've added explosiveness to our play at both ends of the court, and the kids have great chemistry" remarked Hopkins. Returning for the Hawks are shooting guards Kristoff Hayden out of Edmund Santa Fe High School and Keith Burke out of Manchester High School, shooting guard/small forward Alex Ofori out of North Hagerstown High School, power forward Kyree Ellis out of Joppatowne High School, and power forward/center Fola Salako out of Lock Raven Technical Academy. Adding to the mix are point guards Bennie McDuffie out of Mandarin High School, Wayne Collins out of The Ogburn School, and Daniel Carter out of Meade High School, point guard/shooting guard Alan Kane out of Balboa School, shooting guard Eric Bass out of New Town High School, small forward Nate Aklilu out of Grandview High School, small forward/power forwards Trent Walker out of Bishop John J Snyder High School and Isaiah Thorne out of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, power forward Ethan Smith out of River Hills High School and center Gabe Brown out of Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School. "We are starting our first nine games on the road with a tough out of conference schedule. It is important that this team gels defensively over these games, because I am confident we can score with anyone," added Coach Hopkins. Hagerstown travels to Louisburg College this weekend to play in the Jimmy Goldston Classic. Today's game starts at 5:00 p.m. against Wake Tech and the Hawks will face Louisburg College tomorrow starting at 3:00 p.m. For more information visit  Jimmy Goldston Classic