Yes, you can go home again. And, Roosevelt Chapman did — well, sort of.
He played his collegiate basketball at the University of Dayton — in fact, he totaled 2,233 points and remains Dayton’s top all-time scorer. And he is eighth in career rebounds with 956.
But his roots — Brooklyn. In fact, he just might be the best basketball player to have ever come out of Brooklyn. And, you probably never heard of him.
That’s a pretty hefty statement, for sure considering Brooklyn has produced Coinnie Hawkins (Boys High), Billy Cunningham (Erasmus) Bernard King (Fort Hamilton) and many more.
But Chapman – aka Velvet – which is both a play on his first name and a description of his smooth playing style – led the Flyers to the NCAA West Regional final game of the 1984 NCAA tournament. The No. 10-seeded Flyers’ unexpected run started in Salt Lake City, Utah with a 74-66 win over LSU. It was followed two-days later with an 89-85 win over Oklahoma that featured a career personal-best 41 points by Chapman. The next weekend, the Flyers defeated Washington 64-58 to advance to the Elite Eight.
Dayton eventually fell to champion Georgetown, 61-49.
Brooklyn was Velvet’s home. Westinghouse High was his laboratory on the basketball court; in fact, his coach Irv Turk told the Brooklyn Eagle years ago, “Roosevelt can play for any college in the country, and be a star.”
But Westinghouse? Why not play in the Public Schools Athletic League “Suicide Division” with giants like Erasmus, Boys High and Jefferson?
“Actually,” Chapman told the Eagle, “I really didn’t know what school to attend. I lived on the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg, on Tomkins Avenue, and most of my friends played for Boys and Alexander Hamilton.
“Honestly,” he continued, “I just wanted to play against them.”
And they were sorry he did. The 6-4, 200-pound Chapman averaged 27 points and 21 rebounds per-game as a senior and said he had close to 150 college scholarship offers. He was now living at 5 East 40th Street.
“I had Michigan State, Providence and Georgetown, to name a few,” he said, “and I really wanted Georgetown.”
But he was sold on – gulp – the University of Dayton.
“When my friend Arnie Hershkowitz told me Dayton,” Chapman said, “I said, ‘where’s that, Florida?’”
“Dayton,” he said, “was the exact opposite of the others. Schools like Michigan State had big campuses and outdated arenas. Dayton had a small campus, and I fell in love with their 13,000-plus arena.”
And the city of Dayton fell in love with Chapman.
So much so, in fact, the school is honoring and featuring Chapman, Sunday, October 8th with a Rappin’ With Rosie Night.
“It’s a get together to support Dayton basketball, and meet the fans,” Chapman told the Eagle last week. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Dayton is hosting the event and the $800 per-couple ticket will aid Flyer basketball.
And yes, Chapman has sort of returned home.
In fact, if Chapman thought the move from Brooklyn to Dayton was a culture shock, try South Dakota.
“I was a teacher and basketball coach at tree Crazy Horse School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,” he said. “And I met a woman and settled down.”
He was giving private basketball lessons to both young boys and girls, and admits the talent in the state is “nowhere near Brooklyn – but is adequate.”
But two years ago, he came home – to his second home – Dayton.
“I wanted to be closer to my grandkids,” he said. “I’m retired now, I do some speaking engagements, officiate youth basketball and do very well playing pool.”
Pool and throwing darts were the two big activities in South Dakota, he admits. “I chose pool,” he said.
Chapman learned the game of pool from Shane Van Boeing, who has won three U.S. Opens and has a total of five championships.
Anthony Grant is the men’s basketball coach at the University of Dayton. “He was one of my teammates,” Chapman says. “He was a freshman when I was a senior. He guarded me every day in practice.”
And Chapman remembers Grant saying, “Roosevelt got 39 minutes and I got one.” That’s not unusual.
In a PSAL playoff game at Brooklyn College, Westinghouse lost to Boys at the buzzer, and Chapman had 24 points at halftime. He was drafted in the third round of the 1984 NBA draft (54th pick overall) by the Kansas City Kings.
“I had better deals overseas,” he says.
But on Sunday evening Oct. 8, they’ll all remember the man they called Velvet – at his second home.
You can go home again – even if it’s not your first one.
Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] ; X: @AndyFurmanFSR.
