Wollongong coach Gordie McLeod won't be surprised if Hawks import Gary "Iceman" Ervin is in high demand during the NBL off-season.A worthy candidate for the league's MVP trophy, Ervin is one of four Hawks players unsigned for next season.The 27-year-old's agent Marquis Taylor has just spent five days in Wollongong and was encouraged by initial discussions with Hawks management about Ervin's future.
Full coverage of the Hawks McLeod hopes the Hawks retain the 180cm guard but expects him to be heavily targeted by rival NBL teams and rich European clubs."We're very keen to try and get him to come back, but we understand he's a professional and we understand there's more leagues around the world where he could play," McLeod said."Gary had a great year and fitted in so well with the team and the community. We've had good talks with his agent, but he'll have some chances put in front of him and he deserves those chances."If it comes down to a money thing, we're limited with our budget, and unless there's a white knight out there to top us up ... we'll put an offer on the table for Gary and he has to make a decision that's best for him and his family."Ervin finished his debut season in Australia on a high note, capturing the NBL Player of the Week award for round 24.He scored a game-high 20 points in his team's 86-70 defeat of Sydney last Sunday.Also unsigned for 2011-12 are free agents Tim Behrendorff, Dan Jackson and Tyson Demos.American forward Dave Gruber is hoping to become an Australian citizen in the off-season and that could affect which way the club goes with back-up centre Behrendorff."Gary and the other guys will have to think about some things and obviously if Dave does naturalise, it gives us some hard decisions to make going forward," McLeod saidThe Hawks finished their 2010-11 campaign in fifth spot, one win short of the play-offs."You're always disappointed when you don't achieve your ultimate goal, but a lot of positives came out of the season," McLeod said."Looking back, we won six [regular season] series against eight teams, we were one win off last year's [16-12] record and that was in spite of having a lot of ... injuries."The Hawks will hold their annual end-of-season presentation dinner on April 29.
