Eleven years ago,\u00a0amid\u00a0the\u00a0Massachusetts\u00a0men\u2019s basketball\u00a0team\u2019s\u00a0season, starting shooting guard Derrick Gordon\u00a0came out as gay, becoming the first to do so in the history of NCAA Division I\u00a0men\u2019s basketball. On Friday afternoon, the former player returned to UMass to discuss his journey toward peace, confidence and self-love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the Stonewall Center, Gordon\u00a0was\u00a0hosted by\u00a0UMass\u00a0Athlete Ally, a nationally recognized advocacy group for LGBTQ equality in sports.\u00a0He\u00a0discussed\u00a0his basketball journey and his parallel course towards acceptance from his community, teammates and loved ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gordon\u00a0exploded onto college basketball\u2019s radar in\u00a0the\u00a02011-12 season when he led Western Kentucky to an NCAA Tournament berth as a freshman. The Plainfield, New Jersey, native\u00a0led\u00a0the team in scoring and made\u00a0the\u00a0All-Sun Belt third\u00a0team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This standout season garnered great interest from the Minutemen as\u00a0Gordon transferred to\u00a0UMass\u00a0a year later. After redshirting a year, he assumed a vital role on the 2013-14 team that\u00a0brought the Minutemen back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since\u00a0the 1997-98\u00a0season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the team\u00a0thrived,\u00a0Gordon\u00a0underwent\u00a0inner turmoil. He felt trapped, unable to come out to anyone, due in large part to his lifelong dream of making the NBA, something he felt would be compromised by being publicly gay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, Gordon said, he\u00a0was\u00a0left without a choice. A teammate, Chaz Williams,\u00a0found an Instagram post Gordon\u00a0liked of himself and his boyfriend. Gordon tried to play it off, but rumors\u00a0spread\u00a0and his team began to treat him differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of teasing, of slurs, in practice, not in practice \u2026 it was bad,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cSomething had to change. I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0live like that. Either I had to come out or stop playing basketball.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though he recognized it\u00a0could affect his chances of making it to the NBA, Gordon\u00a0chose to be happy and true to himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gordon came out publicly on April 9, 2014,\u00a0on ESPN. Before the program aired,\u00a0he\u00a0told\u00a0various people about it beforehand. In addition to his parents and brothers, Gordon told\u00a0close friends, including high school teammate and NBA superstar Kyrie Irving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u00a0was\u00a0the last time I heard from\u00a0[Irving],\u201d Gordon said. \u201cAnd, as someone I thought of as my friend, my brother, that really hurt me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At UMass, after coming out, the student body was largely behind him, but the basketball team was not as supportive. Gordon said he never spent time with the team outside of practice and games.\u00a0He said, with the exception of his former roommate, Tyler Bergantino, he never talks to former Minutemen teammates anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u00a0was\u00a0a really dark time for me,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cI just didn\u2019t feel safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Gordon\u00a0left\u00a0UMass, transferring to Seton Hall for his final year of eligibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There, the dynamic was different, with the team being more accepting of Gordon\u2019s sexuality and willing to socialize with him \u2014 something Gordon thinks contributed to the team winning at a high level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were really a brotherhood,\u201d Gordon said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gordon ended the conversation on an optimistic note, noting how many more resources and support LGBTQ students have today, and giving advice to students who may be in the same situation he\u00a0was\u00a011 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s difficult \u2014 it took me three years to come out,\u201d Gordon said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stressed that despite the difficulties he faced, coming out was the best decision he\u2019s ever made. He\u00a0said living as his true self\u00a0has made everything worth it, and if he could go back, he wouldn\u2019t have done it any other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n