The Maryland Nighthawks are a team of the Premier Basketball League based in North Bethesda, Maryland. They were formerly part of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team began play in the fall of 2004.

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History

2004-2007: ABA Years

In their first season they finished in third place in the Blue Division with a 15-9 record. They lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Bellevue Blackhawks, 133-120.

Entering their second season, owner Tom Doyle relocated the team from Show Place Arena in Prince George's County, Maryland, to Montgomery County, Maryland. The Nighthawks now play their home games at the Hanley Center for Athletic Excellence of Georgetown Preparatory School on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Celebrity players such as the New England Patriots' Adalius Thomas and former Washington Bullet Gheorghe Muresan have suited up for the Nighthawks and played as the "11th man", a unique rule in the ABA that allows celebrities to play in a game for an ABA team. The Nighthawks finished the 2005-06 season with a record of 25-10. They also signed 7' 8 3/4" Chinese player Sun Ming Ming, the largest player ever to play professional basketball in the US. In the playoffs, they faced the Montreal Matrix in the first round, they would win 145-114, advancing to the second round. There, they faced the SoCal Legends, where they would lose, 121-123.

In the 2006-2007 season, they finished 13-16. This was the first losing record in the franchise's history. This was the first season in which they missed the playoffs.

2008

In late 2007, the Maryland Nighthawks left the ABA. They would then move on to become one of the charter franchises of the newly-formed PBL. For the 2008 season, the Nighthawks signed Tamir Goodman with former player Lawrence Moten now the new head coach.

Their first season in the PBL would be the worst in their franchise's history as they posted a 6-14 record. As there were only ten teams in the league, they made the playoffs against the 11-9 Wilmington Sea Dawgs. They defeated Wilmington 125-112. In the second round, they went on to face off against the Rochester Razorsharks, who easily defeated the Nighthawks 123-102, thus ending their season.

2009

On October 10, 2008, the team announced that they would be representing the PBL as the official "Travel Team" of the PBL in China and the Far East. Since the schedule of international play is set to occur concurrently with the PBL regular season, the Nighthawks will not play any regular season games in the United States. ^[1]

The Nighthawks will return to the PBL regular season in January 2010.

References

1. Maryland Nighthawks To Be Internationally Showcased