Fordham’s Rose Hill gym celebrates 100 years of hoops

The Fordham Rams defeated Boston College 46-16 on January 16, 1925. It was a basketball game. And it was held at Rose Hill High School in the Bronx, New York.

That game was the first played in what is now affectionately known as historical Rose Hill High School. One hundred years later, Fordham University’s basketball teams—among other programs at the school—still call the gym home. It is the oldest gym still in use by an NCAA Division I basketball team.

Many historic moments have taken place in the Rose Hill gym. Some were not associated with athletics, like when American troops used it to hide in 1943. Countless moments in sports history have taken place in the gymnasium. The building embodies the importance of preserving the history of basketball. Moments that are connected to the very fabric of the current world of sports happened there.

You can’t go to a New York Knicks game without hearing announcer Mike Walczewski, Fordham Class of 1977. And you can’t watch one without hearing Mike Breen, Class of 1983. Considered the voice of the NBA itself, Breen is one of the few broadcasters who began broadcasting Fordham Mens Basketball at Rose Hill.

Fordham graduates are all over the world of sports media, from the third Michael, Michael Kay – of the IES Network and ESPN – to legendary baseball commentator Vin Scully. But the gym was not only the birthplace of many historic moments in sports history. Many legendary athletes also made their way through the gym at some point in their careers.

A 100-year history of Fordham Rose Hill Grammar School

Vince Lombardi, the namesake of the Super Bowl trophy, attended Fordham University. He was part of the school’s legendary offensive line known as “Seven Blocks of Granite”, who used the gym whenever soccer practice had to take place indoors.

When Power Memorial won the New York Catholic high school championship on March 7, 1965, it was at Rose Hill High School. It was also the last game of his high school career Power Memorial Player of the Year. His name was Lev Alcindor – a name he later changed to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Fordham graduate and Fordham University Athletic Hall of Famer PJ Carlesimo, also in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his role on the 1992 “Dream Team,” returned to the gym as a coach when his Seton Hall Pirates played the Rams. . Fordham’s Jean Prioleau won that game – and on the day, November 29, 1990 – at the buzzer.

But the other memorable thing about that shot happened off the field. Directly across from the scorer’s desk was a young sportscaster who let out a loud “BANG!” in the air. It was in that gym years ago that Breen coined the exclamation point as his signature call.

Fans recently gave the gym a new nickname, with the school adopting the nickname “Rose Thrill”. for its holy home of sport. He will likely acquire more nicknames for decades to come as he continues to give basketball history a home.