Monmouth Hawks

MONMOUTH HAWKS

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Colonial Athletic Association (2022-present)
Past Conferences: Northeast, MAAC
City: West Long Branch, N.J.
Stadium: OceanFirst Bank Center

NCAA Tournaments: 4 (1996, 2001, 2004, 2006)
Championships:
National Championships: None
Conference Tournament Titles: 4 (1996, 2001, 2004, 2006)
Conference Regular Season Titles: 5 (2004, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2021)

Team History
The Monmouth Hawks are a Division I team located in West Long Branch, N.J. Monmouth joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2022 after nearly a decade in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Monmouth won three regular season titles in the MAAC, most recently during their final season as a member in 2020-21, but never did take home a conference tournament championship. Thus, the Hawks’ last NCAA Tournament trip came back in 2006, when they were still part of the Northeast Conference.

The Hawks won a First Four game that season as a No. 16 seed, before falling in the round of 64 to top-seeded Villanova. Monmouth lost its previous opening-round games in 1996, 2001, and 2004. The Hawks’ postseason history also includes two trips to the National Invitational Tournament, in which their combined record is 1-2.
Before leaving for the MAAC in 2013, Monmouth ranked fourth all-time in Northeast Conference regular season victories with 261, while winning four conference tournament titles (1996, 2001, 2004, 2006).

Monmouth also achieved a considerable amount of success at the Division II level, making back-to-back trips to the tournament in 1981 and 1982. The Hawks, who went 1-3 in those appearances, then became a full-fledged member of Division I in 1983-1984. After playing as an independent during that campaign, the Hawks joined the ECAC Metro Athletic Conference in 1985-1986, which later changed its name to the Northeast Conference.

Former North Carolina star King Rice took over as Monmouth’s head coach in 2011. Monmouth have won at least 20 games three times under Rice’s watch. His finest season came in 2016, when the Hawks went 28-8 with wins over power conference opponents UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, and Rutgers and received votes in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time. The Hawks won the conference regular season title too, but Iona overcame the odds to beat them in the MAAC Tournament.

Monmouth was one of four schools added by the CAA in 2022, joining Hampton, North Carolina A&T, and Stony Brook. The Hawks landed in 10th in the conference’s preseason poll.

All-Time Records
Points Scored
o Justin Robinson: 2,003
o John Giraldo: 1,749
o Alex Blackwell: 1,749
o Rahsaan Johnson: 1,628

Rebounds
o Corey Albano: 779
o Fernando Sanders: 775
o Kevin Owens: 695

Assists
o Derric Thomas: 524
o Justin Robinson: 497
o John Giraldo: 492
o James Hett: 492