2015-2016 Season
The Harper College Men’s Basketball Team finished with 11 wins in head coach Justin Welke’s second season, a two-win improvement from the year before. The Hawks were led by a trio of sophomores –Marcus Gatlin, Allias Burnett, and Abdul Mushtaq.
Gatlin was the team’s second-leading scorer (18.0 PPG), leading rebounder (6.3 RPG), and leading assist man (5.3 APG). He was a three-time NJCAA Region IV Division III Men’s Basketball Player of the Week and was also named a NJCAA Division III Men’s Basketball National Player of the Week on Jan. 14. Finally, he was voted Second Team All-Conference. Burnett was the Hawks’s top scorer at 19.0 PPG and second-leading rebounder at 6.0 RPG and was a two-time NJCAA Region IV Division III Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. Mushtaq was Harper’s leading 3-point shooter, making 88 3s on the year. He had a career-high eight 3-pointers and 26 points in a win over Olive-Harvey College Dec. 17.
The men’s basketball program was recognized in the February issue of the NJCAA Review Magazine for its partnership with Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides support to kids fighting cancer. For a third straight season, the Hawks hosted Kadeen Alansari of Huntley, Illinois and his family for a home game.
2014-2015 Season
The Harper College Men’s Basketball Team finished with a 9-22 record and 2-12 record in N4C play in first-year head coach Justin Welke’s first season.
Despite the difficult season, there were highlights for the Hawks. Admir Suljic was the team’s leading scorer at 16.8 PPG. He scored a season-high 40 points on Dec. 20 at Mid Michigan Community College. Suljic was named the Region IV Player of the Week and also the National Player of the Week.
Davion Benton was named the Region IV Player of the Week for three straight weeks and was also featured as the Harper College Athlete of the Week. Benton also provided the highlight of the year with a thunderous dunk over a College of DuPage defender, a highlight that made it to ESPN.com, SI.com, and ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Robert Hudson and Marcus Gatlin each earned Region IV Player of the Week honors once.
2013-2014 Season
The Harper College Men’s Basketball Team finished with a 17-14 record and 8-6 record in N4C play, good for fourth place in the conference. The Hawks reeled off two big winning streaks during the season, the first being an eight-game winning streak from Nov. 12-Dec. 10 that featured a win over nationally-ranked South Suburban. The Hawks also won five straight N4C games, highlighted by an 87-84 double overtime thriller over Milwaukee.
Freshmen Kevin Walsh (16.6 PPG), Bradley Reibel (13.7 PPG) and Kevin Sexton (12.3 PPG) were the team’s go-to scorers throughout the season. The Hawks ranked ninth in the nation in 3-pointers made per game, eighth in 3-point field goal percentage and 12th in free throw percentage.
2012-2013 Season
The Harper College Men’s Basketball Team finished with a 13-17 overall record and 6-8 record in N4C play, good for fifth place in the conference. Harper upped its win total from 10 in the 2011-12 season to 13 in the 2012-13 season and will bring in a strong recruiting class next year to complement the returning group. Harper’s season ended with a 79-69 defeat at the hands of College of DuPage in the Region IV Quarterfinals.
The Hawks boasted five players who averaged double figures in scoring, led by Garrett Gatz at 13.8 PPG. Point guard Connor Miklasz represented the Hawks on the All-Region and All-Conference teams and ranked 11th nationally in assists per game (6.8).
2011-2012 Season
Coming off a 23-win season in 2010-11, the Harper College Men’s Basketball Team had high expectations for this season, but injuries decimated the team and the Hawks never recovered. Harper started 3-1 but struggled to a 10-21 finish and a first round loss in the Region IV Tournament to eventual champion Milwaukee Area Technical College. The Hawks were very competitive while suffering six losses by five points or less, many of which the team held late leads. Connor Miklasz and Shonnon Barfield represented the Hawks on the All-Region and All-Conference teams, respectively.
2010-2011 Season
In Men’s Basketball, Head Coach Tony Amarino’s squad posted a solid 23-9 overall record, and finished 3rd in the N4C Conference with an 8-6 record. The Hawks advanced to the semi-final round of the NJCAA Region IV Tournament, falling 77-63 to Madison (WI) College and finishing 3rd. On the season, the team averaged 77 points per game on offense and allowed an average of 65.9 points per game, with 19 double digit victories and 2 losses by a single point.
2009-2010 Season
It was a challenging season for Head Coach Tony Amarino, with the Hawks going 11-19. Brandon Bolger was named team MVP, and he also earned 2nd Team honors for the North Central Community College Conference (N4C) All-Conference Team and the Division III Region IV All-Region Team. The season was also memorable for Coach Amarino as he recorded his 300th career head coaching win. The victory came on a solid, 85-59, win over Wright College. Coach Amarino becomes only the 97th coach in NJCAA history to reach this milestone.
2008-2009 Season
Coach Tony Amarino fielded a young ball club (9-20, 3-7) that played hard but lacked experience to overcome opponent’s scoring runs. The basketball team was defeated in the opening round of the Regional tournament to Truman College 80-78. Josh Toon made All-Conference.
2007-2008 Season
First year Coach, Tony Amarino, had a spectacular 20-9 season. He was proud of how his athlete’s did in the classroom to remain eligible. He started the season with 15 players and finished the season with 15 players. Three players made All-Conference and two were honored with All-Region.
2006-2007 Season
The Basketball program hired two new coaches to lead the teams: Coach Rusty Becker led the Women and Coach Marc Boone directed the Men. Both teams jelled at different times throughout the season playing an up-tempo style and featured All Region players.
2005-2006 Season
The men’s basketball team earned a school-record 28 wins, won the N4C Conference title and took third in the nation at the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
2004-2005 Season
The men’s basketball program finished with 17 wins.
2003-2004 Season
The men’s basketball team finished with a 22-10 record and reached the Region IV championship game. Sophomore Pat Monaghan was named a third team All-American.
2002-2003 Season
Former NBA professional and Boston College star John Bagley joined the Harper staff as head men’s coach. He led a group of previously recruited freshmen to a 12-win season and a 12-18 record. The Hawks finished fourth in Region IV and had a five-game winning streak early in the season. Elected Most Valuable Player was Pat Monaghan, a 6-4 forward from Fremd High School who led the team in scoring and three-point shooting. George Cotseones (Elk Grove) was named the team’s Most Improved Player. Pat Monaghan was named to the Region IV All-Tournament team.
2001-2002 Season
Harper went 4-26 in the final of Rick Lima’s 2 seasons as head coach. Phil Macklin came over from football during the last half of the season and played spectacularly. Bryan Zyrkowski (Conant) received All-N4C and MVP honors. Former Boston Celtic point guard John Bagley was hired as the new head coach in June, with Assistant Robert Wines.
2000-2001 Season
In Men’s Basketball, Mark Behrens, a graduate of Conant High School, was one of Region IV’s top-ranked student athletes with a 16 points-per-game scoring average and a near-perfect grade point average in the classroom. Three other Hawks average double-digit per-game scoring – guard Bryan Zyrkowski, center Boris Jacovic, and forward Sam Jackson
