BASKETBALL
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Seventeen years after changing their name, the Wollongong Hawks have gone back to their roots.
The club will be known as the Illawarra Hawks from Monday - the title they carried through the first 19 years of their existence.
"We are again the Illawarra Hawks," general manager Kim Welch said.
"The Hawks represent not only the Wollongong area but also the Shellharbour and Kiama municipalities and Wingecarribee Shire, so it is important that the club's name reflects the entire region it reaches and receives support from."
The Hawks entered the NBL in 1979, reaching the play-offs in eight of the 20 seasons they were known as Illawarra.
The NBL switched from winter to summer seasons in 1998-99, the same year the Hawks changed their name to Wollongong and moved their home games from the 1500-seat Beaton Park 'Snakepit' to the city's newly-completed 6000-seat entertainment centre.
Since then the Hawks have reached the play-offs 10 times, winning their only NBL title in 2000-01.
Welch and Hawks owner James Spenceley are counting on the change coinciding with a fresh outlook for a club that won just six of 28 games last season.
The Hawks are also in the market for a new coach after Gordie McLeod ended his six-year tenure with the club last week.
"Inspired by new major sponsor Multi Civil and Rail's John White and Tory Lavalle's passion for the Illawarra region and the great local business support received during the Hawks Take Flight campaign, the club felt the time was right to revert back to its original name and again truly represent this great region on the national sporting stage," Welch said.
The 2015-16 season tips off in October.
Welch says the Hawks will make their "first major announcement" on Monday morning.
The decisions come after the Hawks fought their way out of voluntary administration.
This month, Welch declared the club will begin a worldwide scouting process for two new imports after their future in the NBL was secured at a creditors meeting.
"We'll have to sit down with everyone individually over the next few days but I'm hopeful we'll be able to retain our coaching staff and a majority of the domestic players" Welch said.
The statement declared the Hawks will undergo a "worldwide search for two new imports in an attempt to climb back up the ladder and back vying for a play-off position".