Road Show: One night in Brooklyn

John Jay/Medgar Evers tipoffWhy did I end up at Medgar Evers? I got that question a few times on Monday night. Never doubted the choice, though.

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.