The Hawks went into the building of City College of San Francisco Rams ,the then top-ranked team in the state, and came out victorious. It was a physical statement of where the team stood amongst their peers.
Elijah Mobley, the Hawks leading scorer, added a verbal exclamation.
“This is our s— now,” Mobley said while clapping his hand emphatically, returning to the Hawks bench after the final horn. “We run the state.”
According to the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association (CCCMBCA), the Hawks officially do.
On Monday, Jan. 12, the Hawks men’s basketball team was ranked the best in the state by the CCCMBCA ranking. It’s the first time in program history they have received the coveted number-one honor.
“The kids have worked really hard,” head coach James Giacomazzi said. “It’s something that has never been accomplished on our college, to my knowledge. It means you’re doing a lot of things right.”
The distinction comes after a 81-69 win on Jan.10 over the former one-seeded Rams, who dropped to second. The Hawks are the only undefeated team left with a record of 16-0. Five teams have become undefeated champions, with West Valley achieving the feat last season.
It places the Hawks as theoretical favorites. The team that has only made it to the state tournament once could be in for a state title.
But the Hawks aren’t worried about hypotheticals. They understand that they still have much work to do.
“Rankings — they mean something and they kind of don’t mean something at the same time,” Giacomazzi said. “In my mind, it’s an exciting accomplishment, but at the same time, if there was a target on your back it got even bigger. So we are going to need to rise to a different challenge.”
That challenge comes with 12 in-conference games left on the Hawks schedule. It includes a rematch with the Rams in the Nest on Feb. 5. Nine matchups come against current top 22 ranked teams. Their next three games are against #18 Chabot, #21 Canada and #22 Ohlone.
The Hawks understand a ranking ultimately doesn’t mean guaranteed success. Just last season, their journey ended with them being upset by the lower seeded Los Medanos Mustangs, who were ranked 17 compared to LPC’s 16, in the first round of the NorCal playoffs.
To avoid a similar fate, Giacomazzi has preached consistency. Being ranked number one doesn’t change the approach, rather highlights its effectiveness.
“You are only as good as your next game,” Giacomazzi said. “Win or lose we have to play our best basketball and prepare the same way.”
The Hawks are hungry to prove the honor to be justified. To make their second ever state title appearance.
To finish the season as the true number one’s.
“We have set lofty goals since day one,” Gicomazzi said. “We have checked a few boxes but we haven’t checked all the boxes that we wanted to. So I don’t expect any drop off in motivation, passion, desire, effort or focus from our team.”
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TOP PHOTO: Richard Banks has been one of the key figures on a the Hawks defense, the strength of the team. (Photo by Jakob Arnarsson/ The Express)
Jakob Arnarsson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Express. Follow him on X, formally Twitter, @JakobA2004
