As their long-odds dream of a trip to the Final Four tips off in Ohio against No. 1 Michigan State, the LIU Brooklyn basketball team has taken a big step toward shedding its Cinderella status at home.
The Blackbirds have accepted a “second home-court” option at the soon-to-open Barclays Center — which will be home to the NBA Nets next season — and will play at least four games a year in the big-ticket venue.
It’ll give LIU Brooklyn a chance to steal some of the thunder from the longtime hometown favorite St. John’s Red Storm — which plays several marquee games at Madison Square Garden each year.
“The timing couldn’t be better,” LIU Athletic Director John Suarez told The Post. “This has the potential to turn into something very big for us. Our goal is someday for Barclays Center to be for us what the Garden is for St. John’s.”
The five-year deal also sets up the arena, which opens in September, as a host for LIU students in sports management, with the Nets promising such guest lecturers as arena developer Bruce Ratner and Nets GM Billy King among others.
The partnership will also provide internship opportunities with the Nets and Barclays Center for at least five LIU students per semester, shared branding opportunities and student discounts to certain non-Nets arena events.
Suarez said the Northeast Conference champs enjoy playing on-campus at the 2,000-seat WRAC in Downtown Brooklyn, where the Blackbirds boast a 27-game home-winning streak. But he added that being able to play a subway stop away at the 18,000-seat Barclays Center should greatly help the college better recruit top players and convince big-name programs to travel to Brooklyn to play LIU.
Seton Hall University is among the colleges locked to play the Blackbirds there next year.
“We see this deal glamorizing the LIU program by putting it on one of the biggest stages in the country,” Barclays Center/Nets CEO Brett Yormark said.
Robert Boland, a sports management professor at New York University, said the deal makes good business sense, adding, “the New York market is certainly big enough for another major college basketball team” besides St. John’s.
“In its heyday, this city supported five, six big-time teams,” including LIU, Boland added.
LIU was a national powerhouse from the 1930s until the early 1950s – capturing the National Invitational Tournament in 1939 and 1941 at a time when the NIT was a bigger deal than the NCAA tournament.
But LIU and CCNY were among the college’s hit hardest by an infamous point-shaving gambling scandal in 1950-1951.