http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/sports/ncaabasketball/derrick-gordon-of-umass-is-first-openly-gay-athlete-to-play-in-division-i-mens-basketball.html 2014-11-15 03:58:20 Derrick Gordon of UMass Is First Openly Gay Athlete to Play in Division I Men's Basketball Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay player in Division I men’s basketball, is happy to find his coming out barely causes a ripple at UMass. === AMHERST, Mass. — As Derrick Gordon’s name was announced during the introduction of the Massachusetts basketball team’s starting lineup Friday, a spotlight swung around the arena, and cheerleaders waved their pompoms. The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” played. There was a loud cheer at the sound of Gordon’s name. Yet nothing signified the occasion as anything extraordinary. At 7:05 p.m. the ball was tipped at A day earlier, Gordon, a 6-foot-3 redshirt junior, sat in the bleachers after practice, fiddling with the rainbow-colored bracelets adorning his wrists. He seemed anxious to start the season, even though he did not know what to expect. There was one thing he was looking forward to, at least in his home gymnasium. “I expect to see some gay flags,” he said, smiling at the thought. When Gordon announced that he is gay on April 9, he became perhaps the most famous UMass basketball player since Marcus Camby. Within time, he was making appearances at the Glaad awards, TedX talk, and Nike’s L.G.B.T. summit. He received emails of support from strangers in Germany, France, Italy and China. He was handling requests for speeches, appearances and autograph signings. The only place that did not seem to care so much about Gordon’s announcement was Amherst, including the UMass campus. The local buildup to his opening night could be summed as a collective shrug, which was what Gordon was counting on. “I definitely did my research,” he said. “I know it’s gay-friendly on campus. I’d see gay flags from time to time, or gay couples holding hands. So I know it was a great place for me to come out.” While Jason Collins’s No. 98 jersey shot to the top of the N.B.A.’s best-seller list after he signed with the Nets last season and Michael Sam had debated a reality television program, UMass has so far abstained from commercializing Gordon’s distinctiveness. There are no jerseys bearing Gordon’s No. 2 in the university bookstore. His likeness has not appeared on any promotional billboards, and UMass has not entertained the thought of hosting a “pride” night at the arena anytime soon. Coach Derek Kellogg said Thursday that Gordon had been promoted “about as much as one of your better junior players would be.” “I’m not trying to exploit his situation or story for the betterment of the UMass basketball team,” Kellogg said. “That’s not really our style as a university, or program, or me as a coach. I want him to be viewed as just another UMass basketball player that’s a good player, a good kid and a good person.” UMass’s executive associate athletic director, Tim Kenney, said season-ticket sales were up about 7 percent from last season. But that could be because the team is coming off its first N.C.A.A. tournament appearance in 16 years. “I think the main reason why we’re not trying to make it bigger is not for protection,” Kenney said. “You watch these guys on the court, and you could never tell that one of them is gay. They’re a team, and they don’t want that disruptiveness.” Kenney was among the first to know of Gordon’s sexual orientation, four months before he told his teammates and the rest of the world, in April. Gordon had leaned on Kenney’s support as a transfer student from Western Kentucky earlier in his career, and he entrusted his secret to Kenney via text message. Kenney responded simply, “O.K.” Then he added, “We should probably talk about this by phone.” Kenney recruited Pat Griffin, a professor emerita at the university and a leading advocate for L.G.B.T. sports equality, to help Gordon in the days leading up to his public announcement. She said one of their early concerns was whether Gordon would be quickly spread thin by groups trying to push their way to access to him. “I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of UMass athletics,” Griffin said. “I feel like they did this the right way. Their priority was to make this a good experience for Derrick. It was not a struggle to get them to that place; they were already there.” Griffin said that part of this was because of campus’ and surrounding communities’ longstanding reputation as being open and accepting. Holyoke, a city nearby, has the nation’s youngest openly gay mayor, Alex Morse, who was 22 when he was elected in 2011. Northampton, a community of about 30,000, has held a gay pride festival and parade each of the past 33 years. On campus, the 29-year-old Stonewall Center, an L.G.B.T. support and advocacy facility, is among the oldest of its kind in the country. Genny Beemyn, the center’s director, said it did not surprise him that UMass would be the place to foster a milestone as monumental as Gordon’s. “We’re the kind of place that I think that would happen,” Beemyn said. “It validates my impression of UMass as a really embracing, supportive space in general for L.G.B.T. students.” If there was angst about how Gordon might handle the fans in stadiums on the road, where the environment may not be as tolerant, he said he was looking forward to it. Sam and Collins have been giving him advice about how to close out insults that might be hurled his way. “I do know for a fact I’m not going to be the only gay person in the building,” Gordon said. “I know I’m not going to be the only one.” He finds comfort in that notion. When asked if he believed that there was another gay player in college basketball this season, Gordon paused. “There’s a lot of us out there; I guess they’re afraid,” Gordon said. “But everybody has their own time to come out. Mine just happened to be April 9.” He added: “I believe somebody comes out every day. So somebody around the world came out today.” Kellogg said Gordon’s temperament and outlook since he came out have discernibly changed. He averaged 9.4 points and 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 33 games as a starter last season, and he said he had worked hard on his jump shot over the summer. “I see a difference in him as a person,” Kellogg said. “He’s not hiding behind anything anymore. He’s just one of the guys.” In the stands, a cluster of Gordon’s friends held a sign reading “If you don’t make 20 points tonight don’t come home! #BeTrue.” They also waved a rainbow flag.