An update coving the G League affiliate
The College Park Skyhawks became a major focus last season for the Hawks organization. With an emphasis on internal player development, the G League affiliate become a training ground for players to ply their trade and work with the system Quin Snyder and other hope to install going forward for the senior Hawks team.
In the 2023 G League Winter Showcase Cup, the Skyhawks went 10-6 — good for second in the East Division. This earned them a spot in the eight-team knockout tournament, where College Park advanced to the semifinals before falling to the top-seeded Indiana Mad Ants.
In the G League regular season, the Skyhawks finished 17-17 and out of the playoffs, but they did sport the third best defensive rating (107.4) out of the 31 teams in the league — a testament to the defensive structure that team hopes to bubble up to the senior team.
Last year’s Skyhawks head coach Ryan Schmidt has ‘graduated’ to being a full-time assistant on Quin Snyder’s staff focused only on the Hawks for next season. A replacement has yet to be named, but HoopsHype’s sources have listed assistant coach Steve Klei as a possibility there.
As for the on-court look of the Hawks, the roster will see some shakeup in the days ahead. Seth Lundy returns on a two-way contract and figures to see most of his action at the G League level, as will returning guard Keaton Wallace who was elevated to a two-way contract during his strong play in Las Vegas this summer. But newly on a two-way contract is Dominick Barlow who comes to Atlanta from San Antonio.
Other recent roster workings include Tyson Etienne signing with the Brooklyn Nets. After going undrafted in 2022 out of Wichita State, Etienne spent two full seasons with the Skyhawks, two summers with the Las Vegas Summer League Hawks and appeared in two preseason games with the Hawks in the fall of 2022. He will most likely join the Long Island Nets after being waived earlier this month.
Miles Norris began his professional career with the Hawks on a two-way contract after being undrafted in 2023 out of UC Santa Barbara. He attended the two most recent Summer League campaigns and last preseason with the Hawks. But his biggest contribution was with the Skyhawks last season, where he started 43 of 45 games and averaged 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 44% from the floor and 35% from three and defending at a high level.
Recently, the Skyhawks announced that he and Joel Ayayi have been traded to the Memphis Hustle for Michael Devoe and the Indiana Mad Ant’s 2025 G League first-round pick.
The College Park Skyhawks have acquired a 2025 1st round pick (via IMA) and the returning rights to Michael Devoe from the Memphis Hustle, in exchange for the returning rights to Miles Norris and Joel Ayayi.
— Skyhawks PR (@SkyhawksPR) September 11, 2024
The 6-foot-4 Devoe spent four years at nearby Georgia Tech where he left sixth on the all-time three-point leaderboard with 223 for his career. Devoe is a crafty left-handed shooting guard with the ability to slither into the lane at times. Last season, he averaged 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 40% from three across two different G League teams.
Some of the upcoming dates for the 2024 G League schedule include October 26, the date of the 2024-25 NBA G League Draft.