Saint Joseph's Hawks Men's Basketball - Traditions

Traditions

Fans of the Hawks often chant "The Hawk Will Never Die!". In a September, 2003 issue, Sports Illustrated listed that cheer among The 100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate (Whatever the Cost), calling it "the most defiant cheer in college sports".

• Midnight Madness The first men's varsity basketball practice, Midnight Madness is an event which allows students and fans to attend. Players entertain the crowd by putting on events such as slam dunk contests.

• The Drum It is believed the Drum played a significant role in many an important win. The Drum leads the student section during fight songs and chants. Today this tradition lives on with a new generation of drummers.

• Rollouts During Big 5 match-ups, each student section prepares written messages on large rollouts that are passed down the crowd.

• The Double Dip Anytime the Saint Joseph's Hawks win the same day or night the Villanova Wildcats lose. The ultimate double dip occurs when the Hawks beat the Wildcats.

• Fight Songs 'When the Hawks Go Flying In' is sung before every game and 'Mine Eyes' is sung immediately after every game regardless of the outcome.

• Cheers Cheers include "Let's go St. Joe's!" and of course "The Hawk Will Never Die!" which is reserved for the end of games.

• 54th Airborne The student section at SJU basketball games is known for being deafening. At the Hagan Arena there are about 1,200 seats for students (over 1/4 of the total seating). The section, along with the pep band, leads the cheers for the rest of the crowd. The core members of the 54th Airborne make up the Student Booster Club. These students work to come up with the rollouts for Big 5 games.