1982 was a very good year for Brooklyn College basketball

January 9, 2023 Andy Furman

Students at the Brooklyn College campus in Flatbush walk between classes. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File

Share this:

For Brooklyn College basketball – 1982 was a very good year. How good? Final Four good.
That’s good. Real good. And they haven’t been forgotten.

The then Kingsmen of 1981-22 reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament – and last month they were inducted into the Brooklyn College Athletics Hall of Fame.

It’s been 40-plus years – perhaps too long of a wait — for a squad that made history on the Bedford Avenue campus in little Roosevelt Hall.

“The best part of this induction ceremony,” Danny Byrnes, the 6-6 forward and a member of the Class of ’84, told the BC Alumni Magazine, “is getting this talented group back together again.

“And while we have remained in contact all these years later,” he continued, “being together on campus was incredible. We were truly a team, a very diverse group, that embraced our roles for the betterment of the team. What we accomplished on the court was incredible, but I feel we had more success off the court, leveraging our Brooklyn College education and our sports experience into successful careers, huge non-profit involvement, strong family men, and pillars of the community. This is such a well-deserved honor.”

What that team did was go on an improbable run and reached the NCAA Division III Final Four. It was magic on campus.

Those Kingsmen won 18 of 26 regular-season ballgames, with the highlight of the season – beating No. 1-ranked College of Staten Island.

Only four teams competed in the City University of New York Athletic Conference that year – John Jay, Baruch and CSI, along with Brooklyn.

And credit has to be pointed in the direction of their coach – the late Mark Reiner – a New York City basketball legend who was the best basketball player in the country when he played at Lincoln High.
He took his talents to NYU – and later created a basketball dynasty as coach at Canarsie High School, before he arrived at Brooklyn College.

“When we get together,” Byrnes continued, “it’s not about points, or rebounds. It’s about locker rooms, travels, practices.”

Little Roosevelt Hall – a bandbox of a gymnasium – looked more like a stuffed shoebox – jammed packed during that ’81-’82 magic run.
“The atmosphere on campus became infectious,” were the words used by leading scorer Rich Micallef.

Members of the 1982 “Kingsmen” Basketball team stand with the wife of late coach Mark Reiner, Tina, at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on December 2. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College playing basketball in March was strange. “Now when you hear the name BC you don’t just think of Boston College,” guard Ronnie Phillips told the New York Times during the tournament run.

Brooklyn ran through the post-season as underdogs, while pulling-off close calls against Ithaca, CSI, and Roanoke College.

The Kingsmen lost a heartbreaker, 50-49 to defending champion Potsdam State, yet they went to play in the third-place consolation game against Cal State Stanislaus and won.
They were officially recognized as the third-best team in Division III. Center Rick Davis earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

When it was all done, Brooklyn finished with a 22-9 record – with tons of memories.
“It’s one of the top honors of my life, and to share it with these guys is one of the most special things ever,” forward Eddie de la Guaradia said about last month’s induction.

Mark Reiner’s impact might have been summed up best by former player Greg Sullivan (’82), who cited a Greek proverb during his induction speech.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in,” Sullivan said, adding that Reiner had an impact that was immeasurable on and off the court.
It was 40-plus years too late.
Lucky for all – no one ever forgot it.

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