As the madness of March’s NCAA tournament rolls on, a new book looks back to when a talented and determined basketball squad on Hawk Hill reached unimaginable heights.
“A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks,” by longtime area sports journalist Aaron Bracy, chronicles the talented and determined cast from “the little school that’s beating everyone,” as Sports Illustrated put it at the time.
“The excitement around that team during that time – in the fieldhouse, on the campus – there was nothing like it,” noted Bracy, a parishioner of the Catholic Community of Christ Our Light in Cherry Hill.
A 1998 graduate of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Bracy deftly drops readers into the five months 21 years ago that defied all expectations, and those who made it happen. Among them were Jameer Nelson, the undersized but never-outmatched guard; Delonte West, the competitor whose ferocity inspired teammates and intimidated opponents; Phil Martelli, the outspoken, quotable and press-friendly coach; and the Hawk mascot, whose ever-flapping wings echoed the team’s undying will.
With an underfunded program and undersized home court (Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, capacity 3,200), few would compare the Saint Joseph’s basketball team with perennial powerhouses such as Duke, Kentucky and Arizona. The Hawks, however, reached the top of the college sports world that year, with an undefeated 27-0 regular season and unanimous No. 1 ranking.
Bracy’s compelling game recaps of each contest, beginning with its opening win against Gonzaga in Madison Square Garden and ending with the heartbreak in the Meadowlands in the NCAA tournament, are interspersed with memorable stories such as a teammate recalling West’s dogged nature during a pickup game; Martelli’s philosophy on packing luggage before away games; and a devoted longtime fan hosting the Hawks at his Ohio home as well as the bonds formed.
Far from being a straight book on basketball statistics and game planning – even though a chapter goes into terrific detail on Martelli’s obsession with decoding wily Temple University coach John Chaney’s game formula – the read expertly captures the energy surrounding the school, city and nation from November 2003 to March 2004. Giant banners with “GO SJU!” are unfurled outside residence hall windows. A child tears up after receiving Nelson’s autograph.
Bracy – a former teacher at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Camden, and current freelance journalist and academic designer at McGraw-Hill – is confident his book will appeal to readers of all genres and interests. “I wanted sports fans to like it, but I didn’t want it to be something that the average non-sports fan couldn’t enjoy.”
Through his conversations with the stars of “A Soaring Season,” Bracy learned lessons that he thinks have reached beyond the court.
“This team proved that you don’t have to be the biggest to beat the biggest,” he said. “You don’t have to have the best to be the best. Whatever it is, you can do it. It’s not going to be easy; you’re going to have to work and sacrifice … but if you believe in something, you can do it.”
“All that we have are gifts from God,” Bracy continued, echoing the words of Father Timothy Lannan, SJ, former president of the Jesuit university, “and the Hawks used their gifts in the way they played, in their teamwork and in how they represented the school.”
In the same way, he said, “We want to use our God-given gifts and blessings to make the world a better place.”
Bracy hopes readers feel uplifted and energized, and recall the cry of Saint Joseph’s fans: The Hawk Will Never Die.
“There was a spirit to this team. There were so many odds against them, but they put their egos aside, came together as a team and became No. 1 in the country,” he said. “We need stories like this to remind us that the human spirit is unbreakable.”
“A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks” by Aaron Bracy is published by Brookline Books.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
