COLUMN: Hofstra's big win is no big deal - is it?

From Marc Edelman's, "Old School "Mawk" Talk" This occurred with good reason. The winter break loss should prove meaningless in deciding the Quakers' post-season fate. Irrespective of the outcome, Penn will earn either a No. 13 or a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament, should the Quakers win the Ivies. That is traditionally the case with the Ivy champion, save perhaps the 27-2 "media darlings" from Princeton who were first-round favorites last season. Hofstra is not top-25 material -- probably not even top 125. Viewed by the basketball world as a symbol of mediocrity, the Flying Dutchmen have not played in the Big Dance since the White House was occupied by Gerald Ford. (He's now six terms removed from office.) Penn-Hofstra simply didn't seem to matter to the Quakers faithful, even though the Flying Dutchmen stung the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by 19 points in the first round of the ECACs. But through Hofstra's eyes, this game had importance. The images in Hempstead, N.Y. -- ranging from a festive gala at Bogart's Tavern to the appearance of Flying Dutchmen apparel in the Nassau Coliseum -- paint a different picture through the eyes of the underdog victors. It may have been the proudest moment in Hofstra history since the New York Jets signed alumnus Wayne Chrebet as a starting wide receiver. For the Hofstra basketball program, which lags behind football and lacrosse in historical performance, the win might just be its proudest moment ever. And that's including the team's 1976 NCAA tournament appearance. Hofstra coach Jay Wright, a Philadelphia native, lifted his arms in jubilation as his team celebrated its victory at midcourt of Madison Square Garden -- much reminiscent of Quakers coach Fran Dunphy in 1994-95, when Matt Maloney and Jerome Allen brought down St. John's in front of a packed Garden. Twenty-three days and six wins later, the Flying Dutchmen are still in this frenzied euphoria that started with making oats of the Quakers. The ECAC championship has made Wright's players believe they can surmount Delaware in a first-place home showdown tonight and move atop the America East Conference. The feeling was much akin to the hoopla at Penn when the Quakers stunned Temple in the Palestra on November 23. Only this time, Penn wasn't the hunters but the hunted. Hence the reduced interest on campus. "We're part of history," Hofstra sophomore Norm Richardson told a Newsday reporter. "Look at the great teams and players who won this tournament. We're now one of them." Richardson, who had 16 points and nine rebounds against Penn en route to earning tournament MVP honors, is a rare breed among Flying Dutchmen basketball players -- one actually joining the rebuilding program over offers from schools with winning traditions. While Ivy League teams like Penn are stymied by the inability to give athletic scholarships, struggling programs like Hofstra suffer from a hapless tradition that makes their scholarships less appealing. Although Richardson, a Brooklyn, N.Y,. native, was successfully recruited by Wright, Hofstra has continuously failed to attract big-name Long Island talent. Most notably among the Long Island elite that have selected to play basketball elsewhere are 6'11", 1998 St. John's graduate Zendon Hamilton and current Miami, Ohio senior Wally "World" Szczerbiak -- currently the nation's No. 6 scorer at 23.5 points per game. A week before the ECAC Holiday Festival, Hofstra received more recruiting disappointment from a Long Island prospect, as Woodmere Academy graduate Karim Shabazz -- a 7'1" sophomore center who transferred out of Florida State to spend more time with his ailing mother -- rejected neighboring Hofstra's scholarship in favor of Providence University, which is located more than three hours from his home. Wright was left to ponder an ambiguous question. How could he win without recruiting? Or, how could he recruit without winning? Then, oddly enough and without making fundamental changes, Wright's team started to win. This transition was made, of all places, in the ECAC Holiday Tournament. And the wins translated into more fan support. And the fan support into more confidence. And the confidence turned into more wins, and then a chance to move into first-place in the conference. A game which seemed so meaningless to Penn fans could prove as the only one that the Hofstra faithful remember, even once memories of 1998-99 have subsided. It may reappear in Flying Dutchmen recruiting films; its boxscore framed on the wall at Bogarts. But as for now, the Palestra faithful can think of the game as a meaningless contest. Had the Quakers won, it would have been nothing more than "been there done that," a reminder of 1994-95. It is unlikely the NCAA rankings committee would have even noticed. Penn's loss to Hofstra did more good for sparking college basketball interest than it did to harm to the Quakers' post-season opportunities. Maybe it's best that way. Hofstra fans are left with something to remember, while Penn fans look past the loss and toward a chance at the Ivy League title.