Of course, there was a Brooklyn connection to the New York Knicks’ NBA championship.

Did you even have a doubt?

Rashid Davis, principal of Paul Robeson Campus remembers the Knick-Robeson connection very well.

“In ’99,” he said, “I had tears of sorrow. Today, I have tears of joy.”

In 1999, the Knicks made NBA history by becoming the first No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals. Coached by Jeff Van Gundy and fueled by a labor lockout that condensed the season to 50 games, the underdog Knicks captured the Eastern Conference before falling to the San Antonio Spurs.

And 27 years later, the Knicks defeated those Spurs for the NBA title.

But what stands out in Davis’s mind is Patrick Ewing visiting the little school on Albany Avenue, and watching the basketball team. “He watched the boys team play on the road, and we had a chance to host him at the Paul Robeson Campus,” Davis said.

As for Ewing, he achieved a major milestone that season — becoming only the 10th player in NBA history at that time to record at least 22,000 points and 10,000 rebounds.

“With Robeson,” Davis said, “We built a sustainable ecosystem where Brooklyn’s youth could thrive both academically and achieve athletic success in the Public Schools Athletic League is a direct vibrant manifestation of that foundation grit. The blueprint established over a decade ago remains intact.”

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The most recent success at Paul Robeson is on the track with junior Janelia Williams. She placed first in the New York State Championshipswith an 11.81 time in the 1A Girls 100-Meter Dash Finals. She was the lone New York City PSAL runner to place in the top seven.

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There’s another Brooklyn-Knicks connection – this from former Tilden High basketball coach Jeff Schrier.

“About 40 years ago,” Schrier writes, “Jay Wright was the basketball coach at Hofstra. Most of my players were from the Caribbean Isles and I had minimal talent; but we played good team ball.”

Jay’s assistant, Tom Pecora – later head coach at Fordham — would come to all of the Tilden games Schrier recalls.

One day, says Schrier, Pecora walks into the gym, and I say, “Ya know, Tom, one day you’re going to come to one of my games and actually recruit one of my players.”

Pecora laughed, and replied: “You don’t have any Division One players.” Schrier agreed, and then added: “How come every year Tilden makes the playoffs and some of the talent you’re scouting doesn’t?”

Pecora: “Because you’re a great coach.”

That’s not the reason, Schrier said. “Every player you scout, Tom is averaging 25 points-per-game. Suppose they all went to Hofstra. You’re going to have a bunch of disappointed players. There’s only one ball. Get one great player and surround him with players who are willing to give up the ball.”

“All my players average no more than 14 points-per-game,” Schrier continued. “They’ve bought into the concept – hit the open man. That’s how we win and make the playoffs every year.”

Now, we don’t know if Pecora went back and discussed this philosophy with Jay Wright – but when Wright went to Villanova and won two national championships, he did it with players that were not household names.

“I’d like to think that on some cerebral level,” Schrier said, “I had something to do with Jay’s success at Villanova and by further extension, maybe an iota of the Knicks’ championship can be traced back to the way many Tilden kids played and won.”

After all, the Knicks started three of Jay’s kids — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges – the Nova Knicks – who played on the Wildcats two national championship teams.

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Now there’s another side to Schrier. After reading the Brooklyn Eagle recently, he exploded: “Stunt?” “Plate?” “The PSAL has rugby? What the hell is going on?”

“We came from an era where sports were being curtailed,” he said. “Now there’s competition for championships in sports I’ve never heard of. Sorry, Double Dutch is jumping rope – but not for city championships. Thank goodness I’m retired in Florida.”

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And this from Danny Lynch, Jr., the former baseball coach at Brooklyn’s St. Francis College.

“The 2026 Knicks’ Watch Parties were tremendous,” he writes, “But who was at the 1970 Knicks-Lakers ‘Watch Party’ at Bishop Ford High School?”

“Yes,” he adds, “The Willis Reed limping out of the tunnel game. This ‘party’ with 200-plus basketball fans – New York Knicks fans. And if I remember correctly, Richie Suarto consumed 26 hot dogs that day.”

**

Long Island University’s Northeast Conference football schedule for the Fall 2026 season includes three home and four road games.

The Sharks open NEC play Oct. 3 with Mercyhurst University at Shark Stadium. LIU’s home conference games include Stonehill (Oct. 24) and Central Connecticut State (Nov. 14).

LIU makes road trips to Duquesne (Oct. 10), Wagner College (Oct. 17), the University of New Haven (Nov. 7), and Robert Morris (Nov. 21) in conference play.

The 2027 season will make its debut Thursday, Aug. 27, at the University of North Dakota, marketing the first-ever meeting between the Sharks and Fighting Hawks. The non-conference schedule also includes road trips to the University of Kansas (Friday, Sept. 4) and Florida International University (Sept. 26), the two Football Bowl Subdivision opponents on the schedule.

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LIU will also play the University of Albany (Sept. 12) and Villanova University (Sept. 19) at home in non-conference competition.

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Ron Cooper enters his fifth season as head coach. The Sharks finished 6-6 last season, compiling the most overall wins in a single season of the program’s Division I tenure. The season was highlighted by a 28-23 win at Eastern Michigan University, the program’s first-ever victory over an FBS team.

The Sharks won five of their final six games a year ago.

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Ryan Mather has been named LIU’s head men’s Volleyball Coach and Tony Trifonov has been named Director of Volleyball.

Over the past two seasons, Mather helped guide the Sharks to back-to-back NEC Tournament appearances. Mather takes over the men’s volleyball program after two seasons as an assistant coach at LIU.

Trifonov will provide oversight of the men’s program while continuing as head coach of women’s volleyball.

Last season, Trifonov led the Sharks to an NEC Championship and appearance in the NCAA Tournament, while posting a 20-9 overall record, a 15-1 conference record, and 12-1 mark at home.

In his 27 seasons as a Division I head coach, Trifonov has won 21 conference regular season titles, 12 conference tournament championships and NCAA Tournament berths, and has been named conference coach of the year eight times across three separate conferences.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR