The Wadleigh boys basketball team took the court for the first time Tuesday night since the tragic passing of its beloved coach, Mike Crump.
Playing with heavy hearts, the Tigers staged a valiant comeback from a 14-point deficit, but fell to Mott Haven, 62-59, in The Bronx with Crump’s son, Mike Crump Jr., 19, looking on.
Initially, the PSAL postponed Tuesday’s contest, but the team felt it would be right to play in Crump’s honor after meeting on Monday, and the league obliged.
“We were trying to put one foot in front of the other,” said Joe Hunter, Crump’s assistant coach and good friend who has taken over the team. “We tried to have normal conversations, we tried to do things the way we normally do them.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but this was the best option. The kids need some type of normalcy in this tragedy. [Basketball] is the only way we can simulate some sort of normalcy, through playing the game.”
The popular Crump, a Queens product and dean at the school where he coached basketball for the last decade, passed away at the age of 44 Saturday after suffering a brain aneurysm. He led Wadleigh to six consecutive borough titles before the run came to an end last February and he had won regular-season division titles in each of his nine seasons.
“He was like a father to us,” junior Lenny Kadisha said. “He was a role model for us. … It was a real emotional game. It was different because he wasn’t here. You didn’t hear his voice. You didn’t hear him yelling. We used to like hearing him yelling.”
Before the game, there was a moment of silence and a prayer. A memorial is scheduled prior to next Tuesday’s home game against Thurgood Marshall Academy, Wadleigh’s rival from Harlem.
Hunter used a number of adjectives to describe standing on the sideline without Crump.
“Weird, awkward, confusing, unexpected, unreal, tragic,” he said.
The team hopes its next game will be an improvement, and will play the season in memory of their lost coach.
“We’re going to be realistic and take baby steps,” Hunter said. “The first order of business is to demonstrate the pride he possessed when he coached. We’re going to try to match his intensity as players and coaches. We’re going to try to consolidate ourselves as a team, just use each other as crutches and assets.”
The team hopes its next game will be an improvement, and will play the season in memory of their lost coach.
“We’re going to be realistic and take baby steps,” Hunter said. “The first order of business is to demonstrate the pride he possessed when he coached. We’re going to try to match his intensity as players and coaches. We’re going to try to consolidate ourselves as a team, just use each other as crutches and assets.”
There will be a viewing followed by a service next Tuesday at 8 a.m. at First Corinthian Baptist Church, located at 1912 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem. Later in the day, Wadleigh will host a memorial in Crump’s memory starting at 3 p.m. They will be renaming the gym in the coach’s honor.