Derrick Gordon

Derrick Gordon
No. 32 – Seton Hall Pirates
Position Shooting guard
League Big East Conference
Personal information
Born (1991-12-12) December 12, 1991
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Career information
High school St. Patrick (Elizabeth, New Jersey)
College
Career highlights and awards

Derrick Robert Gordon (born December 12, 1991) is an American former college basketball player. A shooting guard, Gordon attended Seton Hall University and played for the Pirates. Gordon transferred to Seton Hall for the 2015-16 season after graduating from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he played for the UMass Minutemen basketball team for two seasons.[1]

On March 24, 2015 Gordon announced his intention to transfer from UMass and play college basketball at another school for the 2015-16 season.[2] He had one year of eligibility left. He graduated from UMass in May 2015, making him eligible to enroll as a graduate student at another college and play immediately.

Prior to playing for UMass, Gordon attended Western Kentucky, where he played for the Hilltoppers.

In 2014, Gordon became the first men's basketball player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I to come out as gay and play in a game. in 2016 Gordon became the first player to play in the NCAA tournament with three different teams, Western Kentucky, UMass, and Seton Hall.

Career

Gordon playing for St. Patrick High School

Gordon attended St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he starred for the school's basketball team.[3]

Upon graduating from high school, Gordon enrolled at Western Kentucky University, where he played for the Hilltoppers team during the 2011–12 season. He led WKU in scoring with 11.8 points per game. Gordon was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference third team. After the season, he decided to transfer to the University of Massachusetts (UMass), due to a change in the coaching staff at Western Kentucky, and in order to be closer to his family.[3][4] Due to the NCAA's rules on transfers, he sat out the 2012–13 season.

Gordon played for UMass during the 2013–14 season. He started all of the team's 33 games. On the season, he averaged 9.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, scoring a season-high 22 points in a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Minutemen qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the second round to the Tennessee Volunteers.[3]

Gordon transferred to Seton Hall for the 2015-16 season after graduating from UMass.[5] Gordon won the Big East Conference Basketball Tournament as a member of the Pirates.

In July 2016, he announced that he was training to become a San Francisco firefighter.[6] He left firefighter training in November 2016 and he briefly started EMT training. In early 2017 he took a real estate course which he later left before finishing. In February 2017 he announced on his Facebook page[7] that he was going to make make another attempt to play basketball professionally. He hired an agent but did not receive any contract offers. As of July 2017 he resides in San Francisco and remains a free agent.

Personal life

Gordon is from Plainfield, New Jersey. He has two brothers, including a twin.[8]

Gordon began to think he might be gay while attending middle school.[9] In April 2014, Gordon came out to his family and teammates. He subsequently chose to come out publicly later in 2014, becoming the first openly gay men's basketball player in Division I.[3] Gordon said "I just didn't want to hide anymore, in any way ... I've been waiting and watching for the last few months, wondering when a Division I player would come out, and finally I just said, 'Why not me?'". He further said that Jason Collins' becoming the first openly gay player in the National Basketball Association inspired him to come out.[3][10] Gordon's family was mixed in their responses to his coming out.[8] He received praise from Collins and Michael Sam, who became the first openly gay player in the National Football League.[3] Students organized a rally in support of Gordon, occurring on April 16, which drew over 1,500 supporters. Five members of the Westboro Baptist Church were on hand to protest against Gordon.[11][12] Later that year, he became the first openly gay player in Division I to play in a men's basketball game.[13] In 2016, he became the first openly gay man to play in the March Madness tournament.[14]

In 2014, he revealed that he was in a relationship with actor Gerald McCullouch.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/05/17/derrick-gordon-umass-transfer-seton-hall/27344373/ Derrick Gordon says he will transfer to Seton Hall
  2. ↑ http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12551787/derrick-gordon-first-openly-gay-d-player-transferring-umass Derrick Gordan plans to transfer
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fagan, Kate (April 9, 2014). "UMass' Derrick Gordon says he's gay". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ Goodman, Jeff. "UMass adds Western Kentucky star transfer Derrick Gordon". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  5. ↑ Gleeson, Scott (May 17, 2015). "Derrick Gordon says he will transfer to Seton Hall". USA Today. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Derrick Gordon leaves basketball to become firefighter". Sports Illustrated. July 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/DerrickFlashGordon
  8. 1 2 "Derrick Gordon's family had mixed reactions when he came out as gay". Usatoday.com. April 4, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  9. ↑ Stephen Sellner (April 9, 2014). "UMass's Derrick Gordon announces he is gay - Sports". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ Gleeson, Scott (April 9, 2014). "UMass coach Derek Kellogg supports Derrick Gordon coming out". USA Today. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  11. ↑ Diane Lederman. "5 Westboro Baptist Church members draw jeers from more than 100 during brief protest at UMass-Amherst". masslive.com. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ Emma Margolin (April 9, 2014). "Rally for Derrick Gordon buries Westboro Baptist protest". MSNBC. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Moment Resonates, Quietly, at UMass". The New York Times. November 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ "WATCH: The First Openly Gay Athlete to Play in March Madness".
  15. ↑ "Derrick Gordon Dating Actor Gerald McCullouch". Out, May 7, 2014.
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