Saint Joseph's Steve Donahue, Jaiden Glover-Toscano, and Austin Williford speak at Wednesday's press conference following the Hawks' 76-73 win over GW.
By AARON BRACY
Big5Hoops.com
February 4, 2026
PHILADELPHIA – Steve Donahue likes to come up with themes for a season.
Until early January, however, there was not a theme for the Hawks. Donahue was trying to find his footing after a tumultuous few months that saw him suddenly elevated to head coach in September following Billy Lange’s surprise departure and then dealing with the equally surprising separation of leading scorer Deuce Jones from the program in December.
Things were not going much better on the court, either, as the Hawks looked out of sync and overmatched.
After a home loss to Davidson on January 3 dropped St. Joe’s to 0-2 in the Atlantic 10 and 8-7 overall, an outsider’s theme for the program might have been “survival.” Donahue, however, had other thoughts. He saw potential in this group but noticed that they were affected too often by a bad play in practice or in a game. In order to move on from whatever had occurred, bad or good, Donahue came up with “A to B.”
Essentially, it’s about moving on to the next thing. Suddenly, and somewhat shockingly, the Hawks began turning things around and found themselves winners of three in a row and six of seven and alone in fourth place entering Wednesday’s matchup against George Washington at Hagan.
“A to B” has been working. And they would need to rely on it again against the Revolutionaries.
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–A fast start: The Hawks played well to start, particularly Dasear Haskins and Jaiden Glover-Toscano, and led by as many as 14 in the first half. But GW came surging back, scoring 18 of 20 points over a span of both halves and led 37-35 two minutes into the second.
St. Joe’s needed to get from “A to B.” And they did—for a stretch.
But GW remained aggressive and put St. Joe’s in a five-point hole with 13:38 to play.
That was “A”. What would be “B”?
–A fast finish: They found in it in a 21-7 surge over an eight-minute stretch, powered in part by the strong play of freshman Austin Williford. Williford focused on defense early when the offense wasn’t coming before contributing some big baskets in crunch time, including a steal and layup that put the Hawks in front by five with 7:16 left. GW kept hitting from long range to stay close, but Glover-Toscano nailed a 3 with a hand in his face and found Justice Ajogbor for a layup. Derek Simpson made three crucial free throws with 20.8 seconds left, and the Hawks once again were able to get from “A to B.”
–Box score: Glover-Toscano finished with a game-high 23 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including 5 of 6 from three-point range; Simpson had another strong all-around game with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 7 of 7 from the foul line; Haskins added 14 points and 6 rebounds; and Williford contributed 8 points and 7 boards.
–How have they done it? Donahue deserves a ton of credit for instilling the next-play mentality into the Hawks. They talk about “A to B” now like it’s “hello” and “goodbye.”
“I feel like I had an A to B game today,” Williford said.
When he wasn’t finding offense early, he asked himself, “What can I do to help the team? And that was on the defensive side of the ball.”
Glover-Toscano also referenced “A to B” several times in the postgame press conference.
So, there’s that.
–Telling statistics, too: There is just a different level of confidence as a whole, especially offensively and particularly with Simpson.
Over the last eight games, St. Joe’s has shot 36.3 percent from three-point range after hitting just 27.1 percent from beyond the arc through the Davidson game.
Simpson has been scorching hot over that stretch, averaging 18.1 points per contest to raise his season average through the GW game to 13.2 points per game. He’s just behind Glover-Toscano (15.9 ppg) as the team’s top scorer. Simpson also has averaged 6.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds in his last eight.
–What does it mean? The Hawks look like a team that could contend in the Atlantic 10 tournament not too long after ESPN’s analytics measurement gave them a 0.1 chance of winning the conference. They will travel to George Mason on Saturday, and a victory would move them into either third place or possibly second place, pending the outcome of VCU’s game against Dayton on Friday.
Win or lose at GMU on Saturday, the Hawks will be back at Hagan on Tuesday against Fordham. And you can bet Donahue and Company will have turned the page from whatever happened in Fairfax.
That’s what “A to B” is all about.
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Aaron Bracy has covered sports in Philadelphia for nearly three decades for various publications and as a freelancer for the Associated Press. His first book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Brookline), can be ordered HERE. He is working on his second book, which will chronicle the memorable 2000–01 season of Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be published in April 2027. Follow Bracy on social media HERE. Contact him at bracymedia@gmail.com.