New York University athletics photos

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

It’s commonly said that everything is bigger in New York.

That’s the case at New York University, where both the men’s and women’s basketball teams reside atop the D3hoops.com Top 25, something that hadn’t happened in the regular season in more than 20 years.

The Violets squads have enjoyed immense success on the court. The women’s team (27-0) is the defending national champ and owns a 58-game winning streak. The men are 26-1 and in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1994.

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“It’s really exciting. It’s definitely cool to see them rise up in the ranks, too. It’s continued to help us motivate each other to do better,” senior guard Chloe Teter said. “It’s been really amazing to be able to support each other through the process and journey. Sometimes, we forget we’re ranked so high. We’re just playing so well; it’s felt natural. It’s nice to remind each other how hard we’ve worked and how great the coaching staffs work together It’s been a great experience for all of us.”

The women's and men's teams at NYU have had plenty to get excited about this season, at a combined 53-1. NYU athletics photos

Playing in the UAA – and the long road games that come with it – has brought the teams together organically.

“I think we really enjoy traveling with them – we usually share a bus,” senior guard Mary Kate Fahey said. “We get to watch their games and they get to watch ours. It’s a two-way street – we support them and they support us. It’s been great this season being able to celebrate some wins on the road.”

“It’s easy to support each other when both of the teams are having a ton of success,” added fifth-year guard Jack Stone. “Given the nature of how the UAA works, we travel a lot together and we spend a lot of time together off the court. That’s really where our bonds and relationships are formed. I think a lot of our friendships and relationships have been built through those experiences and traveling. You are playing on the road and it’s good to know you have a built-in support system. We’re fully behind them and they are fully behind us.”

The friendships are based on more than talking about basketball, too. The squads are all about helping each other achieve success in life as well.

“NYU is a good academic school and I feel like a lot of us have bonded over that, whether we share different majors or we share relatively similar courses of study,” sophomore guard Hampton Sanders said. “Sometimes, on road trips, it’s not always talking about who we’re playing, but about helping each other with homework or talking through our schedules. Being able to connect on and off the court is great.”

“I was in the weight room a couple months back and one of the women’s players, Belle (Pellecchia), was in there, too. She had her laptop open and was going through her job search,” Stone added. “We bonded over what website she was on to support her career job search. A guy ended up reaching out to me through that same website. I remembered that and reached out to Belle to ask her her opinion on it and I ended up applying for it and got to a second-round interview. So, it’s not so much basketball, though we are focused on that right now, but the long-term effects. We’re all here to go to school and get a job. The fact we can rely on each other in that space is cool and something we bond over.”

The success on the court has had one drawback, though. The lofty seedings have earned the teams the right to host tournament games until the national semifinals. However, the logistics dictate the teams have had to take turns hosting and going on the road this postseason.

The women hosted the first- and second-round games last weekend at Manhattan’s John A. Paulson Center, while the men traveled to York (Pa.) for its first two games. This week, the roles are reversed. The men host Hardin-Simmons (20-9) on Friday, while NYU’s women trek to Gettysburg and meet SUNY Geneseo (24-6). The squads were faced with a similar dilemma last year when NYU’s women opened tournament play on the road, while the men hosted.

“It’s a bummer, for sure, not being able to host. But, it’s very exciting for them. It was a great privilege for us to host last week,” Fahey said. “We have the 4:30 p.m. slot Friday and they have the 7:30 p.m. slot. Hopefully, after our game, we’ll be able to tune into their game. It’ll be different not having them in the stands supporting us and us not being there to support them. It was last week, too. But, they will have a good showing. NYU has lot of fans come out. I know we’ll have a fan bus coming for us, so we’ll have a good crowd as well.”

Before they part, the teams have been feeding off their special dynamic.

“We just got out of practice when we were on one court and the women were on another court – you can really feel the excitement and energy both teams are playing with right now,” Stone said. “It’s pretty special.”