Michael Avaltroni, the interim president of Fairleigh Dickinson University, was driving moments after his men’s basketball team stunned Purdue (and the world) in the NCAA Tournament when a big fan called his phone.
That’s New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, with his wife Tammy in the background.
“They were talking about how we got the enthusiasm of so many people, and how it really was a David vs. Goliath story,” Avaltroni said.
Avaltroni’s phone has been blowing up in the past 48 hours as his university, with an enrollment of 11,000 spread over two campuses in three towns, has gained a place in the national consciousness. Second No. 16 seeds just beat a No. 1, the Knights will have the eyes of the nation on them again tonight as they face ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic for a spot in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden next weekend.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to tell our story, which is similar to a lot of what happens on the court – a group of players who were passed up elsewhere, but were given an opportunity at FDU, and when given the opportunity did more than that and surprised the world.” Avaltroni said. “That’s the story of many of our students, students who often don’t know if college is for them, or come in with challenges or burdens, and after four years, they find that their lives have changed.”
Unexpected platform
March Madness provided an unexpected platform for Avaltroni, a Marlboro resident who graduated from FDU in 1999, returned to his alma mater as a chemistry professor and worked his way through the administration ranks before becoming interim president on Jan. 1.
“Honestly, it’s very hard to say – it’s very important,” he said of the publicity windfall. “We often talk about ourselves as a very well-kept secret, and that’s not an asset. It’s an opportunity to break free from that.”
Avaltroni attended the Purdue game in Columbus, Ohio, then returned to Monmouth County to watch her daughter dance, and is now back in Ohio. He said FDU received 8 million social media impressions in the 24 hours after beating Purdue. That might be a typical day at the office for Duke or Kentucky, but it’s uncharted waters for FDU.
“It’s beyond anything we could have imagined,” he said.
Avaltroni knows all too well what the spotlight has done for Saint Peter’s after the nearby college began its all-time Cinderella run at the Big Dance in March – applications swelled, alumni donations poured in, a branding-opportunity tidal wave that cleaned out the clothing inventory of the campus bookstore.
It’s a great reminder of how sports can be a front porch for a university – and fulfill that mission in proportion. FDU players are woven into the campus community more or less as regular students.
“We’re not in the business of preparing the next round of NBA Draft picks,” Avaltroni said. “This is athletics for us…This is exactly what athletics is meant to do.”
That said, questions have been raised in recent years about FDU’s finances in competing at the Division 1 level, particularly after its men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs were reduced from three assistant coaches to two (an experiment since abandoned).
When asked about that commitment, Avaltroni replied, “There’s no question that part of a college campus community revolves around being active in athletics, and something like this is an absolute game-changer for us. As we move forward, we need to develop a strategic approach to ensure that athletics is part of our future.
‘A story for the ages’
Avaltroni has been beating that drum ever since he got the job. He hosted pregame dinners for alumni before men’s and women’s Northeast Conference Tournament games on campus, and two hundred people turned out. In the men’s NEC semifinals, with FDU closing in on an NCAA Tournament bid, he was moved to see the Rothman Center crowd double in size as the game unfolded — area students and residents wanted to be a part of it. this.
“Most people walk through our athletic facilities to their car without participating,” he said. “We want to make it an amazing part of being on campus.”
About that campus, the location of which caused confusion among the public and the media. FDU’s “metropolitan” campus spreads between Teaneck and Hackensack in Bergen County, separated by the Hackensack River. The Rothman Center is in Hackensack, while most of the campus is in Teaneck. And then there’s the “Florham Campus” in Madison, Morris County, which has its own Division 3 athletic department.
If the Knights win one more game, they can also stake a temporary claim to Madison Square Garden.
“We’re going to make sure it’s an FDU home game,” Avaltroni said, trying not to get ahead of himself. “This conversation is almost unfathomable. It will be a story for the ages.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball scene since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.