Scholastic Roundup: Brooklyn’s basketball godfather to be honored

March 1, 2024 Andy Furman

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He was the godfather of girls’ basketball in Brooklyn, the PSAL and perhaps the entire city.

On May 9, MIKA — the organization for girls Barney Davis started — will be hosting an event to honor the former coach.

MIKA Sports Association began with a love of basketball. “At a young age,” said friend Paul Gropper from Florida, “he worked as a youth counselor at a local YMCA, and started his teaching career at Goddard High School, then Junior High School 57 and Middle School 324 in Brooklyn.”

Davis started coaching the girls’ basketball team at J.H.S. 324 and later formed a team at Penn Wortman Recreation Center in Canarsie. In 1988, after visiting Goldwater Hospital — a specialized hospital for paraplegic and other disabled patients — Penn Wortman girls’ basketball was then renamed at MIKA, honoring a young patient who left a lasting impression.

His career was highlighted with two New York City PSAL Championships — both at Paul Robeson and Medgar Evers High Schools and winning tournaments throughout New York City Summer Leagues.

Davis also started the Dr. Martin Luther King Girls Basketball Tournament and saw many of his female athletes in the program obtain basketball scholarships to numerous colleges, such as Howard University, Seton Hall, UMass, Georgetown and North Carolina State.

Some of his athletes played professionally overseas and in the WNBA.

“Barney saw the importance of challenging his athletes to make change or be the change. He is a legend in the eyes of many. He will never be forgotten,” Gropper said.

Davis attended P.S. 273 and Gershwin Junior High School in East New York and later Stuyvesant High School. At Brooklyn College, he was a catcher on the baseball team.

For additional information on the Barney Davis event go to mikasports.org.

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Duffy’s Restaurant in Boynton Beach, Fla. was the site of a Lafayette High School reunion of sorts, according to former Frenchie and later successful Tilden High basketball coach Jeff Schrier.

“We had coaches — Gil Fershtman; former player Mel Goldstein, who later coached at Wingate and then became PSAL Basketball commissioner; Alan Eganthal, and Marc Gastwirth.”

The South Florida Basketball weekly breakfasts have a real Brooklyn flavor with Goldstein; Schrier; Les Pines, captain of the ’64 Lafayette team; coaches Jack Kaminer (Wingate and CCNY), Bobby Hartstein (Lincoln), Bobby Finkelstein (DeWitt Clinton) and Mark Mallor (East New York Vocational); LIU professor Joe Dorinson, author of a Jackie Robinson retrospective; and several other New York fans of the game, Schrier reports.

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Alabama is replacing longtime football radio announcer Eli Gold. Chris Stewart will replace the 70-year-old Gold, who went to Bialik School on Church Avenue, Yeshiva of Flatbush High School and finally Midwood.

“Although I did graduate from Midwood High,” he told the Eagle, “I didn’t attend very often. I confess I was not a model student, and I tended to cut school a whole lot.”

Gold told AL.com that he does not plan to retire. “Well, the university has chosen not to bring me back,” Gold said. “This is not, with a capital N-O-T, not at all health-related. I am very healthy. Everything is wonderful.”

Gold has been the voice of Alabama football for 35 years, calling seven national championship games, 11 Southeastern Conference championships and 35 bowl games.

He added, “As a kid, we often went to Di Fara Pizza on the corner of Avenue J and East 15th Street for a slice. We lived on East 19th Street between Beverly and Cortelyou. When I was 10, we moved to the Midwood section, where we lived in a two-family house on Avenue I and East 22nd Street. I lived in Brooklyn until I was 23 years old.”
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Two championships for two Brooklyn schools. That’s exactly what Brooklyn College and Medgar Evers accomplished last week.

The Brooklyn College women’s basketball team claimed their fourth straight CUNYAC title, defeating No. 2 John Jay in the conference championship game, 72-54 at Baruch College, Friday.

As for Medgar Evers, it was a first for the school’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams — capturing titles at the 2023-24 CUNYAC Championship meet.

Brooklyn was meeting the Bloodhounds of Baruch for the third consecutive final.

It was Brooklyn’s fifth conference title in the last six seasons and first under rookie Head Coach Megan Campbell. The Bulldogs improved to 18-8 with the win while the Bloodhounds drop to 19-8.

Alina Estrella was named the game’s most valuable player; she led Brooklyn with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Dior Dorsey nearly had a double-double of her own. contributing 11 points and eight rebounds. Ericka James added 13 points while going a perfect eight-for-eight from the free-throw line.

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For the women’s team at Medgar Evers, it was their first indoor track and field title in 20 seasons. The men’s squad made history, winning its first indoor championship ever. As a school, it was Medgar Evers’ first championship victory since February 26, 2011, when the Cougars’ men’s basketball team defeated the College of Staten Island, 62-56, to win a conference crown.

On the men’s side, the Cougars compiled a whopping 151.5 points, followed by Hunter College (114), Lehman (79.5), CCNY (74) and York.

Freshman Rupert Luard-Charles was named the meet’s most valuable performer. The rookie produced a gold medal effort in the 400m dash (51.73) while taking silver in the 200m dash (23.42) and silver in the long jump (6.01m).

Medgar’s Jaheim Johnson was the meet’s top runner in the 200m dash, recording a time of 23.02. Jerome Hodges won gold in the high jump with a leap of 1.80m, while teammate Chrisnel Nicolas earned gold in the pole vault with a mark of 2.69m (a CUNYAC record). Dontay Washington was the top senior college runner in the 60m hurdles, turning in a time of 9.75.

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The Medgar Evers’ women’s team finished with 166 points, surpassing Hunter (137), Lehman (71) and CCNY.

Freshman Aaliyah Bartholomew was named the meet’s most valuable performer. The rookie won three gold medals, turning in winning performances in the 400m dash (1:05.72), the 60m hurdles (11.659) and the long jump (4.58m). She was also runner-up in the high jump (1.45m) and scored in the shot put (8.63m).

Imani Richardson was crowned conference champion in the 60m dash, producing a time of 8.34. Teammate Desireth Ramirez turned in a gold medal effort in the 200m dash, winning the event in 27.62.
Nana Samake was the top performer in the 800m run, winning the race in 2:38.95. Samake also came in second place in the mile event, crossing the finish line in 5:56:08 (new school record).

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Eric Acker (Eagle Academy for Young Men II) has had a fantastic freshman season for LIU this year, and last Monday he became a three-time conference rookie of the week.

In games against Lemoyne and Wagner he averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

The Sharks picked up a big home win against LeMoyne on Thursday. and Acker was a key part of the victory. He scored a career-high 28 points – 22 in the second half – shooting 12-21 from the floor while also adding seven rebounds and five assists.

Noah Sorensen produced the biggest swing of his young collegiate career on Saturday night.

Sorenson delivered a tie-breaking home run to lead off the ninth and Seth Surrett added a sacrifice fly later in the frame as the LIU baseball team defeated Miami of Florida, 4-1 at Alex Rodriguez Park.

A redshirt freshman, Sorensen joined the Sharks this season from UConn, took Drew Dwyer deep on the second pitch of the top of the ninth to break a two-all tie. It was the first hit and RBI of Sorensen’s collegiate career.

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