NCAA Final Four Legacy Project renovates Algiers recreation center

By Jordan Booker
Contributing Writer

New Orleans this year played host to the NCAA college men’s basketball Final Four March Madness tournament, and as part of the event’s community initiatives, the NCAA transformed a local recreation center on the West Bank of the city, as part of its legacy project.

NCAA officials joined city officials and organizations on March 29 for a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the newly renovated Morris F. X. Jeff Sr. Recreation Center. The legacy initiative was completed with help from New Orleans City Councilmember Freddie King III, the New Orleans Local Organizing Committee (NOLOC) and corporate partner Degree Deodorant, that helped to sponsor the renovation. The project partnered with additional host institutions: Tulane University of New Orleans and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. The NCAA wanted to revive the recreation center in Algiers to provide a public space to support the next generation of New Orleans athletes.

“We know that this is a historic place and it really needed it,” said Ellen Lucy, the NCAA director of Championships and Alliances, Corporate Relations, Marketing and Branding, in a statement. “We’re just excited to kick it off, cut the ribbon, and see the look on the kids’ faces. That’s the most important part,” Lucy said.

Photo courtesy the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation

JoAn Scott, the managing director for NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships and Paul Valteau, the co-chair of NOLOC and the executive committee member of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation attended the ribbon ceremony. City representatives included Larry Barabino Jr., the CEO of the New Orleans Recreation Development, and Councilmember King, who played with local kids in the gym’s new facility.

The neighborhood was selected for outreach into the younger community because it is located near a local high school and charter school. The renovations to the basketball court and gymnasium took around two months to complete and was finished in time for the Final Four games that took place at the Caesar’s Superdome on April 2.

“[I] wholeheartedly enjoyed the ribbon ceremony at Morris Jeff Gym,” Councilmember King posted to his Twitter account. “Students from Berhman Charter, Larry Barabino, Councilmember Eugene Green and Oliver Thomas and I were honored to participate in this event,” King tweeted.

This article originally published in the April 4, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.