Here Is the 1st Openly Gay NCAA Division I Player

Derrick Gordon comes out in interview with ESPN
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 9, 2014 12:59 PM CDT
Here Is the 1st Openly Gay NCAA Division I Player
In this March 21, 2014 file photo, UMass guard Derrick Gordon (2) works against Tennessee guard Josh Richardson (1) during an NCAA college basketball second-round tournament game in Raleigh.   (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

Less than two months after the NBA got its first openly gay active player, NCAA Division I men's college basketball now has its first openly gay player. Derrick Gordon, a sophomore starter for the University of Massachusetts, came out to his family, coaches, and teammates earlier this month, and now he's come out publicly in an interview with ESPN. "I just didn't want to hide anymore," he explains. "I've been waiting and watching for the last few months, wondering when a Division I player would come out, and finally I just said, 'Why not me?'" UMass says it's "proud" of Gordon. On Twitter, Gordon promised today, "I am the first Division 1 male basketball player to come out and not the last. I AM gay. I'm not afraid. I'm not alone." (More NCAA stories.)

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