Small, a 6 foot shooting guard had played the last 4 seasons with the Warrnambool Seahawks and forged himself a reputation as one of the leagues premier players. His electrifying play has earned him all-star status on 2 occasions and last season he was the leagues 2nd leading scorer with close to 26 per game. Small played his College basketball at Southampton College in New York.

Small has averaged over 28 points per game in 94 league appearances - scoring at better than 46% per game. He has also logged 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assist per game.

The signing of Curtis Small has now given the Hawks a short but explosive line up that will suit Coach Ken Harrington's new up tempo offensive structures.

"We will spread the floor and let our small, quick line up attack the defense." Harrington said. "Even our big guys like Joel Seach and Luke McMillan like to drift to the perimeter and drive it, we will be different to every other team in the league."

The Hawks started their pre season last weekend with a training camp based on what Harrington had learnt with his NBA experience last summer. The Hawks endured two tough sessions on the Saturday, each session lasting two and a half hours and then backed it up on Sunday with a 3 hour scrimmage session. The Hawks also enjoyed a team bonding dinner with the Hawks women's team on the Saturday night.

The Hawks also hope to have Luke O'Hea join the team in early March after his stint in the Irish Basketball League. O'Hea is a strong 6'4 guard who like most of his teammates can shoot the long range shot with good accuracy. The availability of O'Hea will depend on his Irish teams results as they look like making the play offs.

The Hawks will start the new season in mid March.