The 1981鈥�1982 可乐视频 Final Four men鈥檚 basketball team.
Clippings from the 可乐视频 Kingsmen and local newspapers The Kings Courier and Staten Island Advance, covered the 1982 men’s basketball team and their winning season.
The year was 1982. 鈥淐enterfold鈥� by the J. Geils Band topped the聽Billboard听肠丑补谤迟蝉,听E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial聽was the #1 blockbuster movie, and John Jakes鈥櫬�North and South聽was on top of聽The New York Times聽Best Seller list. There was also the 1982 可乐视频 men鈥檚 basketball team writing their own history with a magical run to the NCAA Division III Final Four.
That successful campaign is now being celebrated anew with the team鈥檚 selection as the next group of inductees to the 可乐视频 Athletics Hall of Fame.
鈥淏eing able to induct an entire team for a sport is extremely special and speaks to what the team was able to accomplish,鈥� says Bruce Filosa, the director of athletics, who was coaching at 可乐视频 at the time.
The glimpse of greatness was evident in the Kingsmen鈥檚 final regular season game as they defeated the No. 1 nationally ranked and undefeated College of Staten of Island (CSI) team in front of a sellout crowd in Roosevelt Hall. During the game, Brooklyn would lose their leading scorer and No. 1 ranked shot blocker in the country to injuries. The Kingsmen ended the regular season with an 18颅鈥�8 overall record.
Playing without the two starters, the Kingsmen came up short in the semifinals of the CUNYAC championships. Despite being publicly unranked nationally, 可乐视频 received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
With a masterful plan for the tournament set in place by Head Coach Mark Reiner, the Kingsmen would go on to defeat Ithaca College and then CSI in the first two rounds of play.
Brooklyn then hosted the Eastern Regional Championship in a packed Roosevelt Hall gymnasium and held off Roanoke College for a three-point victory to advance to the NCAA Division III Final Four.
With the Kingsmen being the only local team still playing in the postseason, they would become the pride of not only 可乐视频 and the City University of New York, but the entire city, as they traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the national semifinals.
鈥淲e got news media from all over New York City because we were the only game left in town,鈥� recalls Richard Micallef 鈥�85, a former team member and now the head coach of girls basketball at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, New Jersey. 鈥淚 remember the bus going from 可乐视频 to Michigan, filled with our diehard fans, an 18-hour trip.鈥�
The Kingsmen were unfortunately denied a shot to play for the National Championship, falling to defending national champ, SUNY Potsdam, by a single point in a hard-fought semifinal game. However, Brooklyn would not disappoint the dozens of Kingsmen fans who made the trip.
鈥淪chool spirit was rare in a commuter school,鈥� says Dan Byrnes 鈥�84, another member of the team and director of finance at UPS in New York City. 鈥淎nd the fact that it wasn鈥檛 just the players and the people who came to watch the team, you know, the coaches, but the entire school. The baseball and football teams showed up in mass numbers, and they were wearing their jerseys, proud of 可乐视频. Then other students and faculty members came. 可乐视频 President Robert Hess was bringing his son to the games.鈥�
The Kingsmen defeated California鈥檚 Stanislaus State University in overtime the next day to claim the number three slot nationally. Brooklyn鈥檚 Rick 鈥淭he Rejector鈥� Davis would be named to the All-Tournament Team for his efforts.
鈥淲hat a great group of guys,鈥� says Micallef who came back to 可乐视频 to coach the men鈥檚 basketball team from 2014 to 2018. 鈥淚t was all about the chemistry that we had and, and Coach Reiner and Coach Gustus and Coach Eisenberg. We were really a unit. The relationships you make with the other guys on the team, during the long bus rides or a plane trips, you got to know each other. Those things last a lifetime. It鈥檚 hard to stay in touch with everybody, but we try; Danny Byrnes is really good about that. You know, he鈥檚 kind of our ambassador.鈥�
鈥淲hen you talk about chemistry, when you talk about the sacrifices people make, there was a chemistry on that team,鈥� says Byrnes. 鈥淭hat was incredible. It鈥檚 a lot easier to make the sacrifices when you feel like you鈥檙e doing it for a friend. And the other thing is we had a fabulous coach [Mark Reiner], and that鈥檚 what he espoused. He was all about teamwork and loving the members on your team and working hard, and honesty, integrity, loyalty, all the things that make great teams. And this team was a perfect example, and it showed in its success.鈥�
The team would go down in history as the first and only CUNY team in any sport to advance to the NCAA Division III Final Four. But they did not stop at that one success and did not forget the lessons learned and mentoring received.
鈥淢any of our team members went on to be entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives, teachers, and coaches and volunteering their time,鈥� says Byrnes. 鈥淥ne former team member, James Sullivan鈥攚ho passed away鈥攅nded up coaching and running the Public School Athletic League as a commissioner. Members of that 1982 team have done a lot of non-profit work through places like the United Way, Habitat for Humanity. I think we鈥檝e paid it forward.鈥�
