There’s a photo of Derrick Gordon in the victorious locker room, with the freshly cut net around his neck and the Big East Tournament championship trophy between his feet.
It’s a decade old now. Ten years since Seton Hall basketball reigned supreme at Madison Square Garden after a 69-67 victory over eventual national champion Villanova.
“Seems like yesterday,” Gordon said Monday from his home in Los Angeles. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
This week, as the fourth-seeded Pirates try to create a little March magic at the World’s Most Famous Arena starting with Thursday’s quarterfinal against fifth-seeded Creighton (2:30 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN), it’s worth remembering the last Hall squad to run the table there.
Gordon, a guard out of Plainfield who had transferred to Seton Hall from UMass for his postgrad season, was the lone upperclassman in a rotation that featured six sophomores. Two months before the Big East Tournament, after the Pirates suffered a blowout loss to Creighton at home, he called a players-only meeting that changed their trajectory.
“People were worrying about stats,” he said. “You don’t get far in a season when there’s teammates disagreeing. I didn’t like that energy and I knew I had to nip that in the bud right then and there.”
He’d played in two NCAA Tournaments at his previous stops. The young guys listened.
“They all bought in,” he said. “They looked up to me, being an upperclassman.”
It was Seton Hall’s good fortune that Gordon ended up on the roster. The prior offseason he was all set to transfer to Boston College when the Eagles rescinded his scholarship offer. They never told him why, but he had an idea: He was the only openly gay player in Division I men’s college basketball.
“People were so caught up in thinking I was going to be a distraction,” he said. “But it worked out perfectly. When (Seton Hall) coach Kevin Willard called me, he said, ‘D, I’ve known you for many years. I respect you for who you are. It’s family over here. We care about you as a person and we care about what you can bring to the team, and you’re a hell of a player.”
Willard told Gordon that he’d discussed the matter with his players and their only response was: “He can help us win.”
Of course, no one did more to help the Hall win that season than Isaiah Whitehead. The sophomore guard out of Brooklyn dominated the Big East Tournament, and not just with his nose for the hoop. He carried the Hall past Creighton in a nip-and-tuck quarterfinal with a last-minute offensive rebound and blocked shot. In the title game his three-point play with 18 seconds left put the Pirates over the top – he got the blocking foul call that could have gone either way but for a subtle, crafty maneuver.
“Isaiah jumped to the (right) side, which made the defender move a little bit,” Gordon recalled. “If Isaiah went right into him straight up and down, it would have been a charge.”
The Pirates were on the right side of the whistle from veteran official Brian O’Connell, but they got the shaft from the NCAA Tournament selection committee, which sent them to Denver to face an under-seeded Gonzaga squad at altitude. They got smoked.
“After we got there, a few days before the game, I remember running up and down the court in practice and getting lightheaded,” Gordon said. “If we had been anywhere else, we could have had a run – we were on such a hot streak.”
What a streak it was. And speaking of that net around Gordon’s neck in the postgame locker room, the last person up the ladder that evening – the one with the honor of cutting the final snip – was not the head coach, as is customary. Willard insisted that his right-hand assistant and Hall alum Shaheen Holloway do the honor. Now it’s Holloway at the Hall’s helm and Willard’s at Villanova, in the other half of the bracket. If they meet in Saturday’s final, you would be hard-pressed to script a more serendipitous development.
“Sha is a hell of a coach, and I like him as a person,” Gordon said. “He’s such a role model to so many people, including myself.”
Seton Hall’s athletic department wanted to honor the 2016 team at a game this season, but getting the band back together proved impossible – all five starters are playing professionally, mostly far away. The only one who’s around is seventh man Michael Nzei, who is in upper management for Goldman Sachs. A reunion eventually will happen.
“When they do that, I will 100 percent be there,” Gordon said. “That’s a no-brainer.”
Fan’s Guide to the Big East Tournament
Angriest fans in the building: Providence faithful are the closest thing the Big East has to an English soccer crowd, and if their team matches up with St. John’s and former Friar Bryce Hopkins on Thursday, be glad the game’s at noon.
Happiest fans in the building: Villanova’s supporters can afford the Garden chardonnay ($20 per plastic cup!) and then some, and their team being good again is a nice bonus.
Saddest fans in the building: The Syracuse faithful who choose showing up without their team instead of dining at Dennys in Charlotte. Seriously – there will be Syracuse fans there. Always are.
Most likely to get ejected: UConn’s Dan Hurley got whistled for a technical foul in the hallway during halftime of a Big East game this season. That’s not shtick – it really happened, whistle and all.
Most likely to make you late for dinner reservations: If James Breeding turns up as the crew chief on your game, call the restaurant immediately and push your arrival time back. If Breeding is calling a game with Hurley coaching, just cancel.
Best dunker: St. John’s senior forward Dillon Mitchell ranks among the top 10 nationally in slams, and it seems like he issues a poster per game.
Most likely to drain a big free throw: Butler junior guard Finley Bizjack has made 103 of 115 foul shots this season (89.6 percent). Foul someone else.
Most likely to send a ball into your seat: Seton Hall center Najai Hines leads the league in blocks at 2.5 per game – and the Plainfield native is just a freshman.
Most likely to pick someone’s pocket: Marquette senior guard Chase Ross averages 2.4 steals per game and knows how to take them to the house.
Most likely to play the full 40 minutes: No one is averaging near that mark this year, but UConn senior forward Alex Karaban tops the list in league action at 34 minutes per game – and you know this prolific winner is going to be on the floor for every meaningful minute.
Best place to hang out postgame: Wherever John Fanta, who is calling these games for the first time, is holding court.
Big East Tournament predictions
First round: Butler over Providence, Marquette over Xavier, DePaul over Georgetown.
Quarterfinals: St. John’s over Butler, Seton Hall over Creighton, UConn over Marquette, Villanova over DePaul.
Semifinals: St. John’s over Seton Hall, Villanova over UConn.
Final: St. John’s over Villanova.
Why: Everyone is salivating at the thought of a St. John’s-UConn rubber match, but the Wildcats matched up pretty well with the Huskies over two regular-season meetings. The Red Storm will have to earn it, too – beating Seton Hall a third time will not be easy.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Big East Tournament predictions, who to watch, crazy story lines