Serious college basketball fans—as well as those of us who love to watch March Madness starting around Sweet Sixteen time—have got a new champion to root for when former U-Mass basketball star Derrick Gordon hits the court as the first openly gay player to compete in the NCAA tournement.
Gordon, who came out while at U-Mass, now plays for the Seten Hall Pirates, which take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs Thursday, March 17, at 9:57 p.m. at the Pepsi Center, in Denver. New Englanders can catch the game broadcast on the Tru TV network. If the Pirates prevail, they’ll only have one more game to beat to make it to Sweet Sixteen.
But one of the sweetest parts of Gordon’s history-making here is how the sports world is taking the whole thing in stride. Says a March 14 Washington Post article:
Gordon’s presence in the tournament may not make much of a ripple, though. Athletes are increasingly coming out of the closet since Jason Collins became the first openly gay active player in major men’s sports in North America in April 2013. Brittney Griner, the former Baylor star who has said she was asked not to come out while she was still in college, announced that she is openly gay after her collegiate career ended. Michael Sam became the first openly gay player taken in the NFL draft in 2014.
“For us, the fact that he’s gay is an old story,” Seton Hall Coach Kevin Willard told USA Today last summer. “These kids know about Derrick, they’re on social media and are very informed. This generation of athletes are much more educated on the gay athlete. I think the attention is brought on by adults. We make it a bigger deal. Some of these kids can teach us a lesson on how to handle this type of stuff.”
