Newark Shoots—and Scores!

The Prudential Center in Newark prepares to host games during the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds of the NCAA tournament in March.

Posted February 15, 2011 by Candace Wells

Cory Booker takes it to the hoop at Newark’s Prudential Center after a press conference trumpeting the venue’s basketball attractions. Let’s hope the Brick City mayor didn’t throw up a brick.

Photo by Marc Steiner/Agency New Jersey.

March promises to be sweet for the rebounding city of Newark. From March 23 through 27, New Jersey’s largest city will host the East Regional of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament—a.k.a. March Madness—at the Prudential Center.

“We are creating transformative change for the city of Newark and the residents as a whole,” said Newark mayor Cory Booker at a January press conference in the arena. Governor Chris Christie also attended, along with Essex County executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Prudential Center chairman and managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek and Seton Hall Law School Dean Patrick Hobbs. Seton Hall University is the official host of the East Regional, during which the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games will be played. Newark is the only new city and Prudential the only new arena to host the tournament this year. Further, according to Booker, Newark is the first new host city in eight years.

The tournament should be a boon for the Brick City, although neither Christie nor Booker would venture a guess at its economic impact. This year, the Rock (as the arena is known) will host a total of 84 basketball games, with events scheduled for the NBA Nets, the WNBA New York Liberty, Seton Hall and the Newark National Invitational, as well as the NBA Draft. “This will show the truth and excellence that our city has to offer,” said Booker. Such attractions, added Christie, are “good for the continuing turnaround of the state.”
After the official announcements, Booker took to the hardwood, nailing several layups and free throws and answering questions about whom he would be putting in his own tournament bracket. He has high hopes for Seton Hall, but as a Stanford alumnus, he is rooting for his Cardinals and the Pac-10 conference as a whole. “I would consider it a part of my duty to be there,” he joked when asked what would happen if his alma mater made it to the Rock.

Sixteen teams from the Eastern Region will compete in the Sweet 16 round, and eight winners will advance to the Elite 8. Then the tournament will move to Houston for the Final Four and the April 4 national championship game.

Tickets for the East Regional tournament are sold out.

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