Robeson will be allowed to play games in its Brooklyn gym – in front of fans – this season, with some exceptions.
The Department of Education announced yesterday that the Eagles, who had their season canceled by the DOE last year after a brawl in their gym against Jefferson on Dec. 12, would be permitted to have home games against all teams except Jefferson and Lincoln.
All four Robeson games involving Jefferson and the defending PSAL champs – both home and away – will be played on a still to be determined neutral court.
“We decided last year’s punishment was enough,” said Eric Goldstein, the PSAL’s chief executive. “It’s a new year and you can’t punish this team because of something another team did.”
But the league and principals from Robeson, Jefferson and Lincoln thought that games involving those schools would be safer if played elsewhere.
“After the incident [between Robeson and Jefferson] last year, nobody wanted that game back there, at least for this year,” Goldstein said. “And Lincoln is such a high-profile team. We want the focus to be on basketball.”
The rest of the games at Robeson will have restrictions. The school’s principal, Ira Weston, has implemented a plan in which 80 handpicked students will be able to buy season tickets and attend games. While that number seems small, it’s about all Robeson’s bleachers can handle.
“This was the fair and safest thing to do,” Goldstein said.
And it’s good news for players like Paris Armwood, who said before the ruling, “We should have home games. This team has been through everything. We’ve paid a big price already.”