By Tuesday, it had been two years since I last visited St. Peter’s and its Bandbox Gymnasium on Montgomery Street in Jersey City. The gymnasium looked more like a high school gym than one that would house a Division I college basketball team.
That day was a celebration of the Peacocks’ historic and remarkable run as a No. 15 seed into the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
It was a welcome home for the players and their coach, Shaheen Holloway, after a memorable two-week trip that captured the imaginations of our nation’s underdog-loving sports fans.
But that day, I realized that it was both a farewell and a welcome home to a special team that would never be together again.
No team is exactly the same from one year to the next. This is the reality of the temporary college sports world, especially with new transfer portal rules.
But the St. Peter’s team we knew from that magical journey was about to disappear completely.
Holloway was poised to take over as coach at Seton Hall, where he was a college player, and nearly every player was following him out the gym doors to other programs.
“The lead singer of the band is gone,” Bill Eddert, father of St. Peter’s guard Doug, who became the face of the program during the NCAAs, said of Holloway after the ride. “St. Peter’s is a small, medium-sized school. I guess all the older guys there thought it was time to take the next step.”
As a result, the day of celebration took on a melancholy tone.
Darryl Banks III transfers to St. Bonaventure. KC Ndefo went to Seton Hall with Holloway. Eidert transferred to Bryant University. Clarence Rupert went to southern Illinois, and Matthew Lee went to Missouri. Drummer brothers Husseini and Hassan left for La Salle and then headed to Duquesne, and both have been attending dances this year.
With such an overwhelming change, it felt like St. Peter’s University might never (or never) get that kind of NCAA Tournament glory again.
But just two years later, St. Peter’s returned to the Big Dance with an overhaul of its basketball program, a new coach in Bashir Mason, and new players.
And they were being celebrated again on a chilly, blustery Tuesday afternoon in Jersey City – this time at a school send-off party outside the gymnasium.
The Academy bus sat idling along the Montgomery Street curb outside the gym, taking the Peacocks to the Newark airport for a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they finished as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished in the SEC. They were waiting to play against the powerhouse Tennessee. Round 1 Thursday.
The Post has you covered with a printable NCAA bracket featuring the entire 68-team field for March Madness 2024.
The sendoff was modest, with about 100 people paving the way as players and coaches made their way from the gym to the bus to the airport to Charlotte and wherever else they’d be waiting after playing basketball again.
This team wants to come into its own, but the Elite Eight team and what they accomplished two years ago is on this team’s mind.
“That team showed potential. That’s all we need,” Peacocks leading scorer Corey Washington told the Post before boarding the bus.
“We don’t talk about it much, but what was done [by that team]But it is known,” Mason told the Post. “We have players here who were part of that team who want to build their own legend and leave their mark to get us back there.”
Mason, a Jersey City native, coached Wagner for 10 years before taking the position at St. Peter’s and hopes to carve his own legacy on Montgomery Street.
“Standards are standards,” Mason said. “I’m taking over a program at the Elite 8 level and I see no turning back from that in my eyes.”
St. Peter’s went 14-18 in Mason’s first season and here they are. The Peacocks, 19-13, won the conference title with upsets in the semifinals (Quinnipiac) and finals (Fairfield) over 19.5-point favorite Tennessee.
Mason loves the grittiness of the ragtag band of brothers he brings to dance.
“Our group reflects Jersey City,” Mason said. “This is a melting pot of guys who come here from different regions and different walks of life. They come from similar backgrounds with a blue-collar, hard-working mindset. They fit in well here. .”
That also applies to Mason.
“I’m Jersey City through and through. Blue collar, headstrong, tough guy,” Mason said. “That’s what I want my team to reflect.”
