In November the college hoops scene in New Jersey was brimming with optimism. Seton Hall was rolling, FDU was coming off of an upset of St. Joe’s and was ready to rock, Rutgers was rebuilding, Monmouth and Rider were ready to challenge in the MAAC, St. Peter’s was improving, Princeton could battle in the Ivy League. NJIT? An afterthought. Yet here we are steaming past St. Patty’s Day and the Highlanders are the only New Jersey Division I men’s school left standing.
Now they are playing in the pay for play CollegeInsider.com not the NCAA or the NIT, but without a conference affiliation that’s almost the best coach Jim Ingles squad could have hoped for, and they made the most of their opportunity by ousting New Hampshire at home this past week and now will get another intimate home game against Cleveland State on Monday night at the Fleisher Athletic Center. Hey it was SRO for round one, and AD Lenny Margolis and crew more than earned a shot at another full house for the visiting Vikings this coming week as well.
NJIT has to be one of the feel good brand stories of the year, at least in the Tri-state area. The lone team without a home conference shocked Michigan in December and continued to play well and draw attention throughout the winter, using that win and a lot of hard work to finally announce the approval for a 200,000 square foot “wellness and events center,” to cost a little over $100 million that could be ready for 2017. In that facility will be a new 3,500 seat basketball arena, as well as new facilities for the other varsity sports, many of which have various conference affiliations.
As an urban school with already high academics and even a global student body attracted to the sciences not far from New York, athletics has faced quite an uphill battle. Monmouth University, or even a school like Rider, had a tradition of winning at smaller levels, and had built a reputation for some success hand in hand with academics. NJIT, not really.
The question became what can NJIT do to make themselves more attractive to leagues that already may have their like-minded schools and no need to share a piece of the pie with another school. What’s the upside? NJIT’s student body is diverse, its academics are very strong, it is located in an urban area and has thrived, and it can help lift the profile of like-minded institutions looking to balance academics and athletics. It has the potential…at least, of hosting major events because of its proximity to the Prudential Center and to Eagles-Bears Stadium, a white elephant and former home of the Newark Bears. It now has a commitment for upgrading its other facilities to also make it attractive and show that the University is willing to invest in athletic infrastructure on par with other schools. And its successful in men’s hoops, and now can potentially help bring in added dollars with revenue-generating games and somewhere down the line that elusive second at-large bid that mid-majors crave for exposure and income.
Still it’s not like local conferences are coming calling just yet. However as a last man standing with a full gym and lots of promise in an urban setting on the way, NJIT and its administration has answered the bell much more than similar sized schools who were lucky enough to be on the receiving end of conference admission at the right time, and haven’t held up their end of the bargain. The Highlanders created their own breaks and continue to do so, and now they deserve the chance for inclusion. Let’s hope a Monday night win in Newark brings them closer to a deserved and positive end for a city, and a program, that has battled and needs the chance. Go Highlanders.
