With the summer in full swing, and the accomplishments of the past basketball season filed away in the record books, we are now preparing for next season's games in the Palestra. As you know, the Palestra is our home away from home and all 15 home games this season will be held in this historic arena on Penn's campus. The package price will be $450 ($30 per seat/per game). We ask that you make your full payment by August 1, 2008.

Knowing that change brings challenges, we want you to be aware of some of the issues that will arise during the upcoming season. For example, keeping your seat location consistent throughout the season will be a challenge but we will make every effort to provide you with a seat comparable to your previous Fieldhouse seat location. However, your seat location may be different for a few games (Penn, La Salle, Drexel) due to existing ticket allocation contracts with each school.

Our non-conference opponents at the Palestra this year will be Cornell, Creighton, Drexel, Penn, Rider, and Siena. Conference games will be played against Charlotte, Duquesne, George Washington, LaSalle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Temple and Xavier.

Extra tickets will be made available on a season and single-game basis when the A-10 schedule is finalized in the Fall. Please keep in mind that the extra tickets purchased will most likely not be located next to your existing seats, unless you opted to move your location to accommodate the request.

We are pleased to share with you that the Fieldhouse/Hagan Arena renovation and expansion project is underway and thus far, on schedule to ensure our return for the 2009-10 season. Pictures of the construction project are posted regularly on the sjuhawks.com website. Although we are increasing the seating capacity by 1,000 seats (500 Adults & 500 Students), the demand still outweighs the number of seats available for all our fans who want to watch the Hawks in person. With that in mind, the Athletic Department is intending to formulate a priority seating system when we move back into Hagan Arena. We will provide you with more details in the upcoming months.

A special Mass will be celebrated for your intentions on the great feast of St. Ignatius on July 31.

As always, thank you for your support of Saint Joseph's University men's basketball. None do it better than you and remember - The Hawk Will Never Die!

Don DiJulia Director of Athletics

Ron Joyce Director of Ticket Operations

More Hawk fans than ever will get the chance to see Saint Joseph's play in 2008-09, when the men's basketball team plays all of its home games at the Palestra. Keep checking www.sjuhawks.com for ticket information and the schedule. For more information on purchasing tickets to Palestra games, contact the SJU Marketing Department at 610-660-1725 or the Athletic Ticket Office at 610-660-1712.

Click here for the Palestra seating diagram.

The SJU women's basketball team will play its home games at Philadelphia University during the 2008-09 season. More information to come.