Gay basketball player Derrick Gordon explains why he chose Seton Hall
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Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay Division 1 college basketball player, has announced he is transferring to Seton Hall.
By Matthew Stanmyre | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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Since Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay Division 1 men's basketball player, decided to transfer from UMass in March, the process was more difficult than he expected.
He says some schools in need of guard help had no interest, and others seemed hesitant to take him on. For a while, Gordon thought it was all hopeless.
RELATED: In biggest game of his life, St. Patrick's Derrick Gordon plays for incarcerated twin brother
But he ended up finding what he calls a "great situation" at a seemingly unlikely place — Seton Hall, a Catholic school that once refused to sanction a gay-rights student organization and allegedly removed a popular priest who ministered to Seton Hall teams because of a Facebook post supporting lesbian, gay and transgender equality.
Gordon, who is from Plainfield and starred in high school at now-shuttered St. Patrick in Elizabeth, said he's not concerned about the past situations at Seton Hall. In fact, he said he didn't give them much thought.
"I mean, I'm there for basketball," Gordon said. "All that other stuff is irrelevant to me right now. I was going in there basing my decision on how can they use me, what they need me for and then going from there. I wasn't necessarily looking at it being a Catholic school because regardless of wherever you go, there are always going to be people who talk about you."
Gordon said he was aware of the allegations from Rev. Warren Hall, who claimed just three days ago he lost his job over the Facebook post. A spokeswoman for the university said personnel decisions about priests on campus are managed by the Archdiocese of Newark.
Either way, Gordon said he wanted to base his decision strictly on basketball.
"It [stinks] that it happened, but none of that stuff honestly was going to play a factor when I was deciding anyway," Gordon said.
If Gordon's decision is all about basketball, he'll find controversy there, too. The Pirates started last season 12-2 and appeared headed for the NCAA tournament when locker room tension and poor play torpedoed the season. Starting guard Jaren Sina left the team in February, and guard Sterling Gibbs transferred after the season.
Gordon, who started his career at Western Kentucky before transferring to UMass and averaging 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds last season as a junior, said he plans to blend into Seton Hall's campus life like any other student. He wants to be an advocate for gay rights at the school, but said he plans to do so quietly.
"Nothing is going to change," Gordon said. "I'm still going to be the same person. It's not like I'm going to go on campus and start waiving around a gay flag. It's all about leading by example. You don't see a straight person going around doing anything so I'm not going to just because I'm gay.
"It's all about how you carry yourself. I'm just going to be myself and let that take care of everything and let people see that, rather than try and do too much."
Gordon said he was won over during the recruiting process by Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard and assistant coach Shaheen Holloway, who spoke excitedly about what he would bring to the program. Gordon, a graduate transfer, is immediately eligible for the Pirates.
"Just hearing their passion for how bad they wanted me to come there, it meant a lot," Gordon said. "Everything they were saying, I looked at it as something that I can't give this up."
Gordon also said Seton Hall's coaches and athletic director "told me not to worry about" any of the school's past issues with gay rights.
"The coaches, the AD of the school — everybody's just extremely excited for me to get there and that's all that matters to me," Gordon said. "All the outsiders and everything, I don't worry about that stuff."
http://www.nj.com/setonhall/index.s...derrick_gordon_explains_why.html#incart_river
1 / 12
Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay Division 1 college basketball player, has announced he is transferring to Seton Hall.
By Matthew Stanmyre | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Follow on Twitter
Since Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay Division 1 men's basketball player, decided to transfer from UMass in March, the process was more difficult than he expected.
He says some schools in need of guard help had no interest, and others seemed hesitant to take him on. For a while, Gordon thought it was all hopeless.
RELATED: In biggest game of his life, St. Patrick's Derrick Gordon plays for incarcerated twin brother
But he ended up finding what he calls a "great situation" at a seemingly unlikely place — Seton Hall, a Catholic school that once refused to sanction a gay-rights student organization and allegedly removed a popular priest who ministered to Seton Hall teams because of a Facebook post supporting lesbian, gay and transgender equality.
Gordon, who is from Plainfield and starred in high school at now-shuttered St. Patrick in Elizabeth, said he's not concerned about the past situations at Seton Hall. In fact, he said he didn't give them much thought.
"I mean, I'm there for basketball," Gordon said. "All that other stuff is irrelevant to me right now. I was going in there basing my decision on how can they use me, what they need me for and then going from there. I wasn't necessarily looking at it being a Catholic school because regardless of wherever you go, there are always going to be people who talk about you."
Gordon said he was aware of the allegations from Rev. Warren Hall, who claimed just three days ago he lost his job over the Facebook post. A spokeswoman for the university said personnel decisions about priests on campus are managed by the Archdiocese of Newark.
Either way, Gordon said he wanted to base his decision strictly on basketball.
"It [stinks] that it happened, but none of that stuff honestly was going to play a factor when I was deciding anyway," Gordon said.
If Gordon's decision is all about basketball, he'll find controversy there, too. The Pirates started last season 12-2 and appeared headed for the NCAA tournament when locker room tension and poor play torpedoed the season. Starting guard Jaren Sina left the team in February, and guard Sterling Gibbs transferred after the season.
Gordon, who started his career at Western Kentucky before transferring to UMass and averaging 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds last season as a junior, said he plans to blend into Seton Hall's campus life like any other student. He wants to be an advocate for gay rights at the school, but said he plans to do so quietly.
"Nothing is going to change," Gordon said. "I'm still going to be the same person. It's not like I'm going to go on campus and start waiving around a gay flag. It's all about leading by example. You don't see a straight person going around doing anything so I'm not going to just because I'm gay.
"It's all about how you carry yourself. I'm just going to be myself and let that take care of everything and let people see that, rather than try and do too much."
Gordon said he was won over during the recruiting process by Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard and assistant coach Shaheen Holloway, who spoke excitedly about what he would bring to the program. Gordon, a graduate transfer, is immediately eligible for the Pirates.
"Just hearing their passion for how bad they wanted me to come there, it meant a lot," Gordon said. "Everything they were saying, I looked at it as something that I can't give this up."
Gordon also said Seton Hall's coaches and athletic director "told me not to worry about" any of the school's past issues with gay rights.
"The coaches, the AD of the school — everybody's just extremely excited for me to get there and that's all that matters to me," Gordon said. "All the outsiders and everything, I don't worry about that stuff."
http://www.nj.com/setonhall/index.s...derrick_gordon_explains_why.html#incart_river
