Why did I end up at Medgar Evers? I got that question a few times on Monday night. Never doubted the choice, though.
- Road Show Day 1: Clark-RIC
- Day 2: Maine
- Day 3: Amherst sweeps
- Road Show introduction, history
- Day 4: Big show at Brandeis
I’ve mentioned a couple times that I have a list of programs I’ve seen play and gyms I’ve seen games in. There were a couple of CUNYAC teams on the list that I’ve seen, but I’d never been in a CUNYAC gym, and this was an opportunity to change that.
Medgar Evers College itself consists of four buildings in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn — in fact, my friend Ray Martel drove me past the Ebbets Field apartments on the way out after the game. Everyone complains about their budget, but Medgar Evers spends significantly less on athletics than anyone else in the conference. Chris Pursoo, the men’s basketball coach, also has his younger brother and his dad on his staff, which is good because the school has zero full-time coaches and family tends to work for the right price. We’ll talk more with him on a future Hoopsville.
And it shows. The gym is one of the smallest in Division III, and shared with a high school. The fire marshal posts a maximum capacity of 272. The gym is comparable to the one that Hood had before it went co-ed, and according to your responses on Twitter, it is comparable to small gyms at Rosemont, Manhattanville, Emerson and Suffolk.
If not for a recently redone floor, it would truly be a dump. Instead, at least it’s bright and clean, and it was packed for the men’s game as well.
Now, the reason I chose this game is two-fold. First of all, I wasn’t going to go to a school that doesn’t post scores in the PrestoSports system. But more importantly, I wanted to see what the Medgar Evers women’s basketball team was all about. Earlier in the year, they were losing games 85-7, 74-5 and 82-6. Lately, they’ve gotten a little bit better, but they are still getting their doors blown off. But, they still have a positive attitude and they still play hard. I talked with Eric James, the Medgar Evers women’s basketball coach, about that after the game.
As a Medgar Evers fan, I was very disappointed in this blog. Mr. Coleman came all the way from the Midwest to “what the women’s basketball team was all about?”, a team that has not won a game all year. Translation, I came to see the car wreck in person. He had an opportunity to shed some light on the men’s basketball program, one that has been resurrected by Head Coach Chris Pursoo and his staff the past 4 years. That included 4 straight playoff trips, back to back CUNY Finals and a 2011 CUNY championship & NCAA tournament birth. A team coming off back to back 1-24 seasons before he showed up. Instead, he makes some passing comment that made no sense about the men’s team. By the way, the men’s team won that night, defeating John Jay, 81-71. You obviously missed it. And your reference to the gym being a ‘dump’ if not for the redone floor is hack journalism. Next time you travel out your comfort zone, do everyone a favor & stay home.
Thanks for sharing. I did talk quite extensively with the men’s coaching staff and had hoped to get them on Hoopsville but our schedule didn’t allow it before they got eliminated from the CUNYAC tournament.
It’s not as if we can’t go back and talk to them next year, though. The storyline will still be there. Not sure what the jealousy is about, though.
I could have gone into more detail about the dumpiness of the building but I was being polite by not mentioning the dripping pipes in the hallway, etc.