A small, private Jesuit school tucked in the small cradle between affluent suburbia and our nation’s most mature municipal – St. Joseph’s University sits on a literal crossroads. A divider known as City Avenue does exactly what the name entails, draws a line between Philadelphia limits and Merion, PA, right through the heart of its campus.
Proverbially, the university has another crossroads to deal with. Months after head coach of the flagship men’s basketball program left the team for a job with the Knicks, it was announced last week that the Athletic Director who famously brought him in, (subsequently brashly firing Hawk Hill legend Phil Martelli), will also be leaving her post to pursue a conference director gig with the Horizon League.
Without much hyperbole, these two decisions could change the trajectory of this institution, for better or for worse, and do so quickly. Rudderless, the Hawks need to make two pivotal decisions regarding athletics – starting with a new Athletic Director and quickly gearing focus on its prized possession, men’s basketball.
In today’s era where money talks and all else is just noise, where does St. Joe’s live in the landscape? How desirable are these respective jobs?
“It’s a good job but a difficult one,” Curry Hicks Sage – college hoops coaching carousel influencer and creator of Search SZN and Burning Sage Podcast tells me. “SJU NIL is right around the middle of the league according to people I trust.”
NIL is at the heart of all conversations in collegiate sports today. Simply put, if you don’t have it, you’re not a real player. So much so that NBA retreads are making their way back to school for the coveted loot that’s being given out. There are, of course, other factors that can bolster your school’s athletic prowess, but none that come close to financial incentive.
“You’ve got a great history and a great fan base which is why expectations will always be high.” Curry says about the Hawks. “But this is a moment where the A10 remains, at best, a two bid league and SLU, Dayton, VCU, and GW are all spending substantially more than St. Joe’s. If you can up the NIL a bit and be really intentional in your search you can get a terrific coach.”
Being “intentional” is perhaps easier said than done. There’s no doubt that even considering its challenges – ones that pretty much every mid-major program faces – and its lack of recent success, the two jobs remain coveted.
St. Joes’ perennial position in a weakened A10 is disheartening but not a deathblow. In a recent poll created by the Field of 68, the A10 coaches ranked St. Joe’s as the 7th best job in the conference. Unsurprisingly, money was the major, if not sole, factor in these rankings. As Curry mentioned, it’s unlikely that the Hawks will make their way into the top three or four from a financial or sustained success perspective, but it is in the cards to grow to maybe just outside it.
Another wrench in the equation is the current coaching situation. The Hawks, picked 7th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, (mainly because nobody knew where to put them with the sudden coaching departure and new roster), are currently in 4th place and in as good of a position in the last decade to earn the crucial double-bye in the tournament come March 11. The conference season is only halfway through, but replacement coach Steve Donahue has turned heads with the style of play and intensity that makes a streaky Hawks a legitimate threat to the top dogs in Pittsburgh.
The new AD will have a collection of decisions to make day one – with many fans wanting a new coach to come along with them and many others wanting to see Donahue play this thing out another year.
Five Features correspondent Mil Phartelli has concluded exhausted research on the case. His list of candidates for St. Joseph’s next Athletic Director is as followed:
Matt Roberts – Athletic Director – Charleston
Laurel Hosmer – Athletic Director, Valpo
Chris Reynolds – Athletic Director, Bradley
Ash Puri – Athletic Director, La Salle
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