The diversity of Cabrini is evident through our growing numbers of students from diverse backgrounds on the basketball team.
“Under [the] direction of Marcus Kahn and Greg Herenda, we did a lot of recruiting to get our name out there. We’re in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, so more people are getting familiar with our name,” Saleem Brown, assistant coach, said. “When we go out to recruit we do not just target one group. We talk to everyone with the talent and I hope that they receive the message.”
As they trailed through the state of Virginia, not only were eight of the thirteen men on the team from ethnic backgrounds, but two members of the coaching and managing staff also were. In Virginia, however, the entire team experienced firsthand the obstacles of race.
“Race has never has been an internal issue with our team. On the road, we have certainly heard stereotypes being thrown at our guys on our team during the game,” Marcus Kahn, head coach of the Cavaliers, said.
While in Hampton Sydney, Va., the team experienced one of the most racially discriminatory incidences that they experienced as a unit. The people of Hampton Sydney did not target a specific player, but affected the group as a whole.
“Some of the fans were very spiteful to not just the players but also the staff,” Jason Williams, sophomore men’s basketball team manager, said. “We were going to get something to eat late at night [when] we heard cars riding past saying, ‘Eff you n—-rs,’ or ‘eff you f—-t, go back to Cabrini.’”
“The fans were using derogatory words towards both the black and white players,” junior Corey Frizzera said.
The question at hand is, why such strong hate? For Brown, he feels as though it is because of the dynamic of the team that attracts hatred toward them.
“I do think it is the way we carry ourselves. We are a very loose team. We just let our guys go. When it’s time for ‘play’ we joke and mess around, but when it’s time for business, we get serious and a lot of people don’t like that loose attitude about us,” Brown said. “We come in the gym dancing and singing, when others may come in tight. But that is not our style, that is not how we win games. We just like to have fun, and a lot of people don’t like that. And they don’t like the fact that we are a smaller school doing bigger things for ourselves. We have, for years now, we have been getting that attention and people simply don’t like it.”
It was unanimous, between players and staff alike, with their drive and dedication to the game, that they did not need to respond to these remarks.
“We could’ve argued back but that became our motivation,” Williams said. “That motivated us to get back to the Elite 8. All the hate that was toward our team gave us the drive to get us through a great season.”
“We used that as motivation. Obviously we were not happy about what the people were saying about our team. It was our drive for us to go out and play hard,” senior A.J. Williams agreed.
