Sign here, please: former Hawks sign pro deals

Posted on September 25, 2015

Originally Posted on The Hartford Informer via UWIRE

Former Hawks soar to new heights as they sign to play professional basketball overseas.

Two Hartford Hawks women’s basketball players recently signed to play professionally in Europe.

Diana Delva, a four-year player at Hartford from 2006–2010 and native of Stamford, Connecticut, will be joining Panathinaikos A.O. in Athens, Greece this season. She has played in Greece since the 2011 as a guard.

Over the last four seasons, she has averaged nearly 18 points and 10 rebounds per game, and was named the 2013 Eurobasket All-Greek League Player of the Year after leading her squad to a Greek League Championship. She also earned All Greek-League First Team selections in the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Delva left Hartford ranked third on the all-time scoring list, totaling 1,403 points in her career.

She was the America East Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and initially signed a training camp contract with the WNBA’s San Antonio Stars after graduation.

She is surely no stranger to the professional ranks and definitely not a stranger to success in her career.

Cherelle Moore, another former standout and four-year player of Hartford from 2011–2015, will join Vega 1/Liepaja in Liepaja of Latvia this season, competing in the Baltic League.

Moore, who is also a Connecticut native coming from Bridgeport , came off a highly successful senior season with the Hawks this past year.

She was named to the America East All-Conference Team and led the Hawks in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, respectively. Moore finished the season on a tear, averaging 20 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in the three-game America East Conference Tournament and was named an All-Tournament Selection.

With these two signings, this is now six professional players that Hartford head coach Jen Rizzotti has helped mentor in her time with the Hawks.

With the women finding success at the pro-levels, it is sure to believe that there will be more Hawks on the radar of professional teams.

The Hawks men’s basketball has something to brag about as former four-year playmaker Mark Nwakamma (2011–2015) signed professionally in Israel.

This is Hartford’s second member of the 2015 class to sign, and the signings came only a week apart.

Nwakamma was known as the team’s captain and a consistent hard worker in recent seasons.

If there was one thing guaranteed at a men’s basketball game, it was hearing Nwakamma’s name blasted throughout the arena of a tight game.

The native of Leander, Texas was named to the America East All-Conference First Team in both 2012–13 and 2013–14 and served as a co-captain for the Hawks in each of his final three seasons.

He became the first player in program history to earn First Team All-America East honors twice in his career and wrapped up his career for Hartford with 1,550 points, the fifth-most in the Division I era for the Hawks. His 630 career rebounds are the sixth-most in Hartford’s time as a Division I school.

Head coach John Gallagher had nothing but praise for his former player as he let it known just how much it means to both of them.

“I’m so thrilled for Mark. He is one of the greatest players we have had in my time here, but he may be an even greater person off the court,” Gallagher said. He deserves this opportunity, and I know the fans in Israel will be so excited with what he brings both to the team and to the community.”

The men now have a positive season to look up to as two players from just last year’s team have gone on to sign professionally.

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