Saskatchewan Hawks
The Saskatchewan Hawks were a professional basketball club based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 2000–01 season, and the Continental Basketball Association in 2001–02. Team history

From Youngstown to Saskatoon 
The team moved to Saskatoon from Youngstown, Ohio, where the Hawks had played just one season, in the year 2000. In Youngstown, the team was owned by former NBA owner Ted Stepien, but failed to gain traction, leading Stepian to move the team. Tom Tao was the principal investor, purchasing 70 per cent of the team and bringing Saskatchewan its first professional team since the Saskatoon Slam folded in 1994. During their lone IBA season in 2000–01, Saskatchewan finished third in their division and defeated the Billings RimRockers in the first round of playoffs, before losing to the eventual IBA-champion Dakota Wizards in the second round. That season, the team was coached by Rob Spon. The IBA folded at the conclusion of the season. From IBA to CBA 
The team joined the Continental Basketball Association in 2001 after the IBA folded, along with the rival Wizards and Fargo-Moorhead Beez. The Hawks gave away more than 6,000 tickets for their season-opener. In their first and only season in the CBA, the Hawks compiled the worst record in the league with just 8 wins in 40 matches. Their coach that year was Laurian Watkins. Tao disappeared from the team during the season and the league took over the team's operations, along with a local First Nations investment group. However, talks between the groups ultimately collapsed, and the team folded after the 2002 season. Their final game was a 112–100 loss at home to the Beez on 22 March, 2002. The Hawks collapse left the province without professional-level basketball until the founding of the Saskatchewan Rattlers, a charter member of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, in 2019. Seasons

References

External links
 Official Site (defunct)

Sport in Saskatoon
Defunct basketball teams in Canada
Defunct sports teams in Saskatchewan
Basketball in Saskatchewan
Basketball teams established in 2000
Basketball teams disestablished in 2002