Scholastic Roundup: The changing face of college sports

July 30, 2021 Andy Furman

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So, what will be the repercussions when — or if – the University of Texas and Oklahoma University leave the Big 12 Conference for the greener pastures of the Southeastern Conference (SEC)?

Who better to ask than former LIU Athletic Director, Jerry Donner?

“Texas and Oklahoma going to the SEC and forming a Monster Conference,” he said, “the Big 12 is breaking up and the result being four super conferences.”

Donner thinks these super conferences will secede from the NCA and form their own legislative body and he adds: “Athletes will be paid in revenue producing sports complying with Title IX.

“And all non-revenue producing sports will be dropped and will return to the governance of each institution, basically becoming club sports,” he said.

“All the mid-major and low major Division I schools and conferences will be left in limbo,” Donner said.

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Speaking of limbo, with the announcement of the move to The Wheeler Building at 181 Livingston Street in September, 2022 what happens to the athletic program at St. Francis College?

St. Francis College’s new campus will occupy about 255,000 square feet across the fifth, sixth and seventh floor and will include more than 2,600 square feet of programmable outdoor space.

The Terriers’ athletic program – with its 21 Division I teams — according to the school’s announcement, will continue without interruption and are part of the SFC Forward’s Vision.
Yet, the new campus does not include a gym or pool on site, the College is developing partnerships with nearby institutions to share indoor spaces for practice sessions and competitions. The announcement added: “St. Francis College will continue to use various off-site playing fields and other spaces for its outdoor sports.”

Back during the Terriers’ basketball glory years — the 1950s and early 60s – when Dan Lynch was coaching, home games were played in the 14th Regiment Armory –also known as the Eighth Avenue Armory and the Park Slope Armory located on Eighth Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets in South Slope.

They moved their games to the 69th Regiment Armory – 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue – during the 1965-66 basketball season.

The College, which previously grew from a small campus on Butler Street to a series of interconnected buildings on Remsen Street, welcomed more than 2,700 students in the fall 2020, including its largest first-year class ever. It anticipates more than 3,500 enrolled students by 2026.

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Spencer Ross, the former New Utrecht High basketballer who ended up in the New York State Hall of Fame as a broadcaster – he’ll be inducted in the Brooklyn Sports Hall of Fame this fall – tells Scholastic Roundup he spent some time with Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza the other day.

“Mike calls Parma, Italy home,” said Ross, who has the distinction of calling games for every single New York professional sports team, and the Boston Celtics. “He said, of course, Johnny Bench was the greatest catcher he ever saw, but thought defensively Steve Yeager was better.”

As for Tony Gwynn: “It seemed like he was hitting baseballs with a tennis racquet, that’s how good he was. Pitch him outside, he’d take it to the opposite field, inside, he’d pull the ball,” he said. Piazza said he’d call for “nothing but high fastballs over the plate.”

Did it work?

“No, but at least you had a better idea of thinking where the ball would be hit. We’d just pray that he’d hit those pitches where someone could catch the ball when it came off his bat. You could never fool Tony Gwynn. He was one of a kind,” Piazza said.

In 9,300 career at-bats, Tony Gwynn struck out 424 times.

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Checking the Scholastic Roundup e-mail bag:

From Vince Paupaw, Westinghouse High Basketball Class of ’81 on Roosevelt Chapman the former Westinghouse High star who later played at the University of Dayton: “I know Westinghouse plays in the PSAL B Division now but as one of Chap’s teammates (79-80) we played in the A Division and never lost to Erasmus and beat Lincoln, Grady and Eastern District, also very good teams. All except Boys High whom we played in the Brooklyn semi-finals at LIU. Chap led us to defeat Adlai Stevenson with Fred Brown (Georgetown) and Ed Pinckney (Villanova) in the Harlem Classic at CCNY.”

From Roosevelt Chapman: “Great article about (Black) Jack Ryan. It was on point. Crystal clear. I played with Jack in a recreation basketball tournament in Manhattan in the mid-‘90s. He was a lethal gunslinger. If he gets hot, it’s a long night for opponents.”

From Marc Chapman: “He (Ryan) was definitely wild. I remember him playing at Manhattan Beach. He could shoot as well as pass.”

From Richard Harvey: “Played with him (Ryan) once. Tough as nails.”

From Charles Brown: “Kenny (Lam) and I went to P.S 206 together and Kenny and I were ping-pong partners at the after-school center when we both moved to Sheepshead Bay. Brother Hank (Lam) was the captain of our track team, of which I was a member at SBHS.”

From David Vance, former General Manager of the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels speaking about Wingate High’s Marvin Roberts: “He (Roberts) is a wonderful guy. Very special. He was the unsung hero of our 1975 championship team.”

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Happy belated birthday to former Lafayette High basketball – and baseball – coach Gil Fershtman. He turned 87 on the 25th of July.

Fershtman coached basketball at Lafayette from 1961 through 1976 – amassed 204 wins in 279 games (.731). He coached baseball at the Bensonhurst school from 1972 through 1976 – won 140 games, lost just 15 with two city championships.

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] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR