Nicole Fasciano
On February 21, 2020, the Merrimack College Men’s Basketball team was revealed to the nation when they took on Sacred Heart University in their first Division I appearance as televised on CBS Sports. The game took place with a start time of 5:05 p.m. EST in Merrimack’s very own Hammel Court. The Warriors beat Sacred Heart 64-57.
This was Merrimack College’s first nationally televised debut not only for the team, but also for the school. It is a much deserved recognition of our community, our athletes, and most of all, our spirit as we have entered the NEC.
In order to accommodate the coverage by CBS, a lot of pre-game effort from our Athletics staff was needed to get the job done in a successful and smooth manner.
“We needed to provide the broadcast crew a refurbished camera location and extra broadcast connectivity, such as additional phone lines in the gym as well as dedicated internet access. We had to provide staffing for the crew, a broadcast location for their production truck and satisfy any other needs that they had,” said Assistant Athletic Director/Communications Mike Sullivan.
In addition to being televised by CBS Sports, Merrimack is receiving other positive national news coverage in outlets like Forbes, ESPN, and USA Today.
“The exposure was immeasurable–it’s helping tell the MC story to a new audience and helping brand and grow the College nationally,” said Ciaran Cullen, who is the Associate Athletic Director/External Relations.
Men’s Basketball is not the only team doing well this year, numerous others are playing extremely competitive schools and winning. Men’s Lacrosse had an energizing win over the University of Michigan this past Saturday, and Men’s Baseball had consecutive defeats over Michigan State University.
Overall, the opportunity for Merrimack to be seen on a national scale is a dream come true for not only our student athletes, who have worked so hard to compete at the level that they do now, but for the Merrimack community overall.
“I think it’s really cool from a standpoint of being an alumni of the school and as well as now being an employee, being able to be apart of something like that and to see something like that taking place at Merrimack is very special,” said Jeremey Blake -Johnson, who is Merrimack’s Manager of Marketing/Ticketing Operations.
The Warriors will continue their training and conditioning as some seasons come to an end while others just begin. If you think this is the peak for Merrimack Athletics, you’re wrong. The fire has just recently been ignited.
