(08-14-2019 01:25 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  You can't even argue they penetrate the NYC market. Smaller schools La Salle and St. Joe's actually do in Philly by comparison. Even UMass brings Boston and Worcester to an extent.

Yeah, I'm sure that even back then, if you heard anything about area schools on NY sports radio or television during hoops season, it was the three or four Big East teams in the region.

I used to fall asleep to WFAN when I lived up there over a decade ago...even then, it was UConn and Syracuse. St. John's and Seton Hall could pound sand if they weren't good. All of the other schools in the boroughs and nearby may as well been in another country. You might have heard the score for a Fordham or Iona game, but that was about it. Whereas in Philly, a guy like Martelli at St. Joe's could have a cult following with his tv appearances.

But, it's more than the media presence. If NYC is going to be in your travel schedule on a yearly basis, it gives the coaches a way to network and recruit more effectively than others. You had business being up there, and it was a known talent source. And the A10 back then had such a spread of schools within it; Fordham isn't a dump. As mentioned, Fordham could make the NIT back at a time when the NIT was more about good schools that just couldn't make the dance, rather than the name-on-the-door thing it became before the NCAA took it over. They were competitive then.