If you’re wondering if Duquesne’s next basketball opponent, Alabama State, looks familiar, you’d be happy to know that it should.
Alabama State will play its second game in four days in Pittsburgh. The team played against the University of Pittsburgh (3-3) on Sunday and lost 73-54 to the Panthers.
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According to Alabama State head coach Tony Madlock, the road trip through the steel city was intentional. The program must accept money for “buy games”, and playing two such games in the same city in a short time will allow you to reduce travel expenses. It’s the reality that a small HBCU must contend with.
“Anytime you’re an HBCU,” Madlock said. “You have to find opportunities to get in because these are money games for us. These games support our programs and our university.”
“It was one of those deals where we can stay here and play two good teams in the city of Pittsburgh.”
And Alabama State will have to grapple with that reality a lot for much of 2022. All six of Alabama State’s games have been played so far. They will play a home game against Eastern Illinois this Saturday for the remainder of 2022.
They had another home game scheduled, a November 18 game against Carver, but it was canceled due to issues surrounding the other program.
This is the second long trip for the state of Alabama this year. A few weeks ago, the team played three games in California in seven days, facing off against USC, Pepperdine and San Jose State. However, this required a trip from Los Angeles to San Jose. This time the team was able to stay and train in Pittsburgh.
“It’s tough, but it is what it is,” Madlock said. “That won’t change. That’s part of HBCU life. We love it, we embrace it, we just need to find a way to do better and win away from home so we can have some kind of confidence.
There is still plenty of time to stay away from home. However, Madlock had no problem being in Pittsburgh. It’s a journey he’s looking forward to.
“Plus, I’m a Steeler fan,” Madlock said when asked why he decided to play in Pittsburgh. “Big Steeler fan.”
“When you were a ’70s baby, who did you like in the ’70s? Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Madlock grew up in Memphis in the 1970s. As Madlock pointed out, if you grow up in the 1970s, you become a Steelers fan. It was the sports team of the decade, winning four Super Bowls in six years behind such legends as head coach Chuck Noll, quarterback Terry Bradshaw and defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene.
It was a similar story of fans across the country who have embraced the Steelers as their favorite team despite having no connection to the city of Pittsburgh. Madlock was no different.
He planned the trip for Pittsburgh and even wanted to go to the Steelers game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately for Madlock, what was once a Sunday Night Football game has been moved to a late afternoon game due to the Steelers’ struggles this season, at the same time as his game against Pitt.
He was able to reach two schools in his favorite team’s town when he takes on Duquesne tonight at 19:00