There are ads all over New York, on buses and cabs, on signs in and outside of stadiums, planted like imperialistic flags, claiming ownership of the city.
Syracuse fired the first shot, claiming to be “New York’s college team.” St. John’s responded with its own twist: “We are New York’s team.”
They have big arenas, big fan bases and bigger budgets, but one key element is missing from each team — New Yorkers.
Combined, the two legendary programs have one player from the five boroughs — a walk-on — while the only New York City team guaranteed to hear its name called on Sunday night’s Selection Show — the Manhattan Jaspers — feature eight players from the city and one from Long Island.
Does that make the Jaspers, entering their first NCAA Tournament in 10 years, New York’s team?
“I feel like we definitely see it that way,” sophomore Shane Richards said. “We have a certain pride to us that we’re from New York and we want to show everybody what New York basketball is all about.”
The Jaspers needed success before they could see it that way, and success wasn’t easy.
It began in mostly empty high school gyms around the city. It began with a collection of unknown or unheralded players.
There was Richards, a sharpshooter with zero Division I offers — the reason he wears No. 0 — playing at tiny York Prep in Manhattan and only catching the Jaspers’ eye because his middle school coach went to Rice High School in The Bronx with Manhattan assistant coach Rasheen Davis.
There was Rhamel Brown, playing at Transit Tech and unable to draw recruiters away from the bigger Brooklyn schools, before becoming Manhattan’s all-time blocks leader.
There was George Beamon, a too-skinny swingman from Roslyn, preparing to be a walk-on at St. John’s, only to end up the fourth-leading scorer in Manhattan history.
“A lot of people won’t look at some schools, but it’s New York City. There’s always gonna be people that can play,” said Davis, the team’s lead recruiter. “It’s about getting an opportunity. We don’t really get caught up in rankings or what other people say. We get caught up in fit or need. We’ve turned down some high-level recruits that make some people think we’re crazy.”
Davis, and later coach Steve Masiello, list multiple New York products, now starting at power conference schools, the team passed on because they didn’t feel they fit in their system. They build around defense, they build around toughness. They build with blue-collar work ethics.
As Masiello often says, “It isn’t about getting any New York kid, it’s about getting the right New York kid.”
“If there’s a player in New York, the tri-state area, that fits what we do, he can’t leave. That’s our first priority,” Masiello said. “It’s not about talent. We’re guys who sacrifice here. If you fit what we’re doing and you’re within 100 miles of us, we have to get you. You’re not leaving.”
Some players can’t bring themselves to leave, wanting to remain close to family and friends, a desire only increased for a player like junior Emmy Andujar, whose older brother, Jose, was shot and killed near their Bronx apartment nearly two years ago.
Some players do leave, like The Bronx’s Ashton Pankey, but return home after a season at Maryland, wanting to be closer to his mother.
Having someone like Davis, who grew up in the South Bronx, gives the players an advisor with instant credibility.
“To have someone that knows the city, that’s been through what we’ve been through, grew up on the same streets, it’s unique,” said RaShawn Stores of The Bronx. “They know what you’ve been through, what you’ve actually been through.”
When a player is first recruited by Manhattan, they usually know most of Manhattan.
There are too many connections to count, lifelong connections like Stores and Michael Alvarado, who battled in elementary school and played together at All Hallows High School, who played street ball with Andujar and AAU games against Beamon.
The players refer to their teammates as family, bonds that were formed almost instantaneously because of their familiarity with each other.
“That’s what makes this that much more special,” Alvarado said. “We’ve played with each other our entire lives. We’ve known each other our entire lives. We wanted to prove that we belonged and that we were good enough.”
Masiello, the third-year coach who grew up in Yonkers and White Plains, said his recruiting practices haven’t changed much since he left Louisville after seven years as an assistant.
The five-star hotels are now three-star hotels. The private jets are now early-morning buses.
The biggest difference is having a roster filled with players able to speak of a new experience from shared experience. Alvarado can prep Stores, Brown can tip the staff to high school teammate Rich Williams.
“That’s an edge that we have that I don’t think anyone else really has,” Masiello said. “Rasheen is phenomenal. He’s put the whole blueprint together, but our guys do a great deal of our recruiting. Once we get a kid up on campus, our guys take it from there and they’ll start going to games. We can’t tell them to do it, but they do it.
“Most of the time, the younger kid looked up to a player. It’s that big-brother relationship where they get on them right away and help them, so it’s great.”
Now, players like Andujar no longer are watching former stars from their high school — Kemba Walker, Edgar Sosa, Durand Scott — in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they are the local kids sparking dreams — and living out their dreams — on the national stage.
“Coach said to enjoy the moment because you never know when you’re gonna get this moment again,” Stores said. “He said, ‘Just wait till you feel it. Just wait.’ ”