Maryland versus Stony Brook at the New Coliseum on 11/11/17.
Updated November 21, 2016 12:01 AM
By Mark Herrmann mark.herrmann@newsday.com
HIGHLIGHTS
Lineup for season includes Hofstra taking on Villanova
Planners later hope to attract NCAA tourneys and March Madness
The new Nassau Coliseum will make an immediate college basketball splash next season with local flavor, national flair and the 2016 NCAA champion Villanova Wildcats. A pair of games will tip off a Long Island Hoops program that also includes plans to attract postseason conference tournaments and March Madness.
On opening night of the season, Nov. 11, Stony Brook will play Maryland. “For us to open the new Nassau Coliseum is a significant event for us,’’ Stony Brook director of athletics Shawn Heilbron said. “We want to expand our fan base across Long Island, and to play one of the powerhouse programs in the country is a great opportunity.”
Then, on Dec. 22, 2017, Hofstra will face Villanova, marking a reunion for Wildcats coach Jay Wright, who coached Hofstra from 1994-2001.
“We had some great games at the Coliseum when I was at Hof stra, defining games,” Wright said on the phone Sunday before his team played in the final of the Charleston (S.C.) Classic. He recalled beating St. John’s in front of a big crowd and had even stronger memories of an earlier game against Penn — a blowout loss. “That showed us how far we had to go,” he said.
As for next year’s date at the arena that officially will be known as the New Coliseum presented by New York Community Bank, Wright said: “To get a game on Long Island is always important to Villanova because we have a lot of alumni there. And Patty and I still have a lot of friends at Hof stra and in Rockville Centre, where we lived.”
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It will be only his second coaching appearance on the Island since he left Hofstra. Villanova visited Stony Brook in 2006.
“He’s a good friend and he also played a big part in the success that Hofstra has had. He’s good for the game,” said Joe Mihalich, the Pride’s current coach and Wright’s fellow Philadelphia native.
“It’s going to be an absolutely fabulous venue,” Mihalich said of the Coliseum, which is visible from campus, “so to get a chance to play in there and a chance to play against the national champions is going to be a great experience for all of our kids. It’s also going to be a great event for the whole community — our students, fans and alumni and season-ticket holders.”
Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, which operates both Barclays Center and the new Coliseum, said there will be a continued commitment to college basketball in Uniondale.
“We’ve been very aggressive in pitching postseason tournaments, no different from what we’ve done at Barclays Center,” he said. “We have also been submitting several bids to the NCAA to bring the first and second rounds of the men’s college basketball tournament.”
The Coliseum has hosted The Big Dance before, including Villanova’s triple-overtime win over Northeastern in 1982.
Even in the regular season, Stony Brook coach Jeff Boals said, the arena will help the Seawolves “broaden the Stony Brook” brand and draw alumni who live in the city. The opener will showcase the debut of his first recruiting class, including center Anthony Ochefu, whose brother Daniel was a starter for Villanova’s title team.
The building will be on display, too. “I’ve toured it,” Heilbron said, “and it is definitely going to be a first-class facility.”
Follow up to the article. this is a great news! It will benefit Stony Brook a lot with exposure locally and nationally.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/college-basketball/new-nassau-coliseum-dreams-big-with-college-basketball-plans-1.12743158New Nassau Coliseum dreams big with college basketball plansHofstra and Stony Brook, who will play each other in their annual Long Island rivalry game Tuesday night,
both will regularly face national-caliber teams as part of an ambitious plan for college basketball at the new Nassau Coliseum.
The plan also includes a recently filed application to host the opening rounds of the 2019 NCAA Tournament and an effort to attract major conference tournaments, according to Brett Yormark.
Any conference is on the table, said Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which operates both Barclays Center and the Coliseum.
“Our goal is to dream big,” Yormark said Sunday as Hofstra played Kentucky before a lively crowd of 7,514 in Brooklyn. Pointing out that Barclays Center will host the ACC championship tournament this March, he added, “We dream big and try to deliver. So far in Brooklyn we have, and my expectation is we’ll do the same out there.”
His group announced last month that Stony Brook will play Maryland, and Hofstra will meet 2016 NCAA champion Villanova (with former Hofstra coach Jay Wright) in 2017, the debut year of the refurbished Coliseum. Yormark emphasized on Sunday that those games will be only the start of a push
to have the local teams play big-name opponents, as well as scheduling neutral-site games between major colleges.
“We don’t randomly select teams. We want the best teams but we also want them to have some connection to the marketplace, whether it’s recruits on the team or alumni or otherwise,” Yormark said. “The whole goal when we open the Coliseum is to glamorize local schools and to bring attention to the marketplace.
The games will be nationally distributed. By more people watching nationally — not just fans, but coaches and athletic directors — they will recognize the Coliseum as a go-to place for college basketball.”
With the Coliseum still under construction, Hofstra’s arena will be the go-to place Tuesday night when the two Long Island teams meet for a third consecutive season in their revived series. Each side has won one, and both games have been close.
“It’s a great rivalry game, we can’t wait to play again,” Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich said at Barclays Center after the 96-73 loss to No. 6 Kentucky. “We want to get this taste out of our mouth. We want to build on what happened today. Hopefully some of our Hofstra people will come out to the game because it has the makings of a good college basketball night.”
Stony Brook also is coming off an emotion-packed game, a 71-66 loss at home to Rutgers and former Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell at home on Saturday. Roland Nyama, who has been with the Seawolves for the rivalry the past two years, said, “We don’t want to lose against Hofstra.”
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