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The body will be in our nation’s capital tomorrow, reporting on St. John’s attempt to upset No. 12 Georgetown, but the soul will be in the basketball capital of the world — Brooklyn.
Here, in the County of Kings, St. Francis of New York and LIU-Brooklyn will re-engage their twice-a-year blood war now known as Battle of Brooklyn.
It will be the second time in five days that the Terriers of St. Francis and Blackbirds of LIU faced each other, which means the red-hot passion that surrounds this true inner city rivalry will be white and sizzling.
St. Francis moved its home game to the Garden on Wednesday night, where LIU pulled out a fantastically entertaining, 86-77 victory that kept the Blackbirds (18-7, 12-1 Northeast Conference) in first place.
Former St. John’s coach Norm Roberts, now an assistant at Florida but forever a New Yorker, was stunned to hear some of the statistics from that game. The Terriers are coached by his former assistant, Glenn Braica, who is as Brooklyn as stickball.
The Terriers attempted 80 field goals to the Blackbirds’ 52 and had 20 offensive rebounds to their eight, but LIU went to the line 37 times (making 27) compared to St. Francis, which went 10-of-10.
That’s LIU-St. Francis for you. Put them in an octagon, send the referees for a shower and toss them a ball.
You have to credit Braica for moving this cherished home game to the Garden. He gave his players (and his opponents) a chance to play in the World’s Most Famous Arena. Any time the golden appeal of playing there is questioned it should be remembered that the St. Francis cheerleaders posed after the game for a group photo on the Garden court. The Mecca.
Now, however, the Terriers will have to find a way to strut into LIU’s state-of-the-art Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center and pull off the upset.
What a league the NEC has become. St. Francis was picked to finish 11th before the season. The Terriers (13-11, 10-3) are third. Sandwiched in between LIU and St. Francis, is Wagner (20-4, 11-2) where a couple of guys named Hurley are turning the Seahawks’ program into the St. Anthony of Staten Island.
The NEC isn’t the only conference enjoying a renaissance here. Fordham, which didn’t win in the Atlantic 10 last season until its final regular-season game, is 9-13 overall and 2-7 in the conference. The Rams also dealt nationally-ranked Harvard one of its two losses.
Iona (19-6, 11-3) and Manhattan (17-9, 10-4), second and third in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, re-upped the passion in that rivalry by winning on each other’s home court this year. Where are Digger Phelps and Tom Penders when you need them?
I remember those days, remember fighting my way into those gyms to cover the Rams and Gaels when they danced their West Side Story hoops rendition. Good times, and they’re coming back.
For the last five years, the word has been New York college hoops are down. Certainly St. John’s wasn’t holding up its end of the bargain until last year. But the worm is turning because of some great young coaches and the commitment to basketball their schools have made.
Coach Jim Ferry’s LIU team led the nation in free throws attempted last season. They’re second in the nation this season. Ask the St. Francis players, who stood there 37 times Wednesday night as the Blackbirds went to the line, how tough they are.
This is Braica’s second tour of duty at St. Francis, and he barely recognized the place. The St. George Residences, located on the same block where the St. George Hotel once stood, give St. Francis students better digs than many Brooklyn hipsters enjoy.
Fordham is redoing offices and locker rooms, while coach Tom Pecora adds local talent. The Barclays Center, which is scheduled to open in September, and where LIU will play its home game against St. Francis next season, will give many local colleges a chance to play in a big-time arena. The Garden only has so many dates.
Based on the directions in which the Rutgers, St. John’s and Seton Hall programs are headed, they likely will get into the top half of the Big East sooner rather than later.
The rest of the country will say college basketball in the Big Apple is back. They’ll just be a little late to the party.
BRAICA’S BRILLIANCE: Last week we asked all of the area coaches to offer a prediction on the Super Bowl and to predict the MVP. The winner, as judged by The Post, would receive a six-pack of imported beer or a 12-pack of domestic. The winning prediction was offered up by Braica.
“I’m a diehard Giants fan my whole life! The MVP’s gotta be Eli [Manning] since [Tom] Brady’s on the other side. He has to at least match him which should get him the MVP.’’
Braica requested Brooklyn Lager. Of course.