Jaspers Ready for NCAA's

Gothamist's Cinderella pick for the NCAA Tournament is ready. The Post reports that the team is confident. Senior guard Luis Flores thinks Manhattan has "a pretty good chance if we do what we do." Flores is also very proud that Manhattan is from New York, "We're Manhattan, we're a New York team, and our 1, 2 and 3 are from New York City." Those positions are filled by Jason Wingate (Rice), Flores (Norman Thomas), and Peter Mulligan (St. Raymond's) respectively.

Gothamist agrees with Flores when he talks about New York kids:

New York kids are fearless. They're not afraid when they get on a big stage. Whether it's AAU, or whether it's in the summer playing against guys that come back from the NBA . . . New York kids have a sense that when they get . . . wherever . . . they bring that with them, whether the game is in Gainesville, whether the game is in Raleigh, they're not gonna back down. And Billy [Donovan] knows that. See, Billy will warn his players that our kids are for real, because Billy knows that. Billy's from Long Island and he will respect us.

Despite New York being a basketball mecca (Jordan was born here), the Jaspers are one of few successful basketball teams in New York, pro or college.

Their game is Thursday in Raleigh, with a game time of 12:20 p.m. Gothamist hopes that CBS will broadcast this game for the region, after all, we have some imaginary money riding on it. It's not too late to fill out your official Gothamist bracket either.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By tien mao on March 17, 2004 8:52 AM

Comments [rss]

Kevin

St. John's does keep a good deal of the city talent at home, and has always done so. IMO, the problem is that going to far-off locales like Kansas, UNC, or Kentucky gets them away from potential distractions, while staying in Queens does quite the opposite. Anyone remember Felipe Lopez?

Mase

Have to agree with Tien. New York is a basketball mecca. The problem at the college level is that no team come close the recruiting ability of a Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina or the like. All the local talent leaves the City and goes elsewhere to play college ball. Imagine what St. John's would be able to do if they ever committed to basketball and hired a top-tier coach? (yeah, the thugs they have now have to go, but programs can be good and relatively scandel-free -- look at Duke [which, despite my dislike of Coach K., has done an amazing job of balancing basketball ability with academic decentness]).

tien

glenn, we just repeated the basketball mecca thing. it's in decline, but i would say that new york is still a hotbed of basketball activity/ability. that's not to say that there are great small-town players out there, we were just exhibiting some hometown pride.

Glenn

I hate to burst New York's bubble, but there are plenty of small-town players who are better players than anybody New York City has put out in the last 15 or 20 years. This is basketball, not hip hop. Being from NYC doesn't matter.