St. Peter's Peacocks Parade WilL Be Friday In Jersey City: Mayor

JERSEY CITY, NJ — [UPDATED: The time and location of the parade have been announced. Click here.]

A parade to celebrate the underdog St. Peter's men's basketball team and their surprise NCAA championship victories will likely be held "early afternoon" on a Friday, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said in a social media post Monday.

City spokeswoman Kim Wallace-Scalcione said that details of the Friday event will be released Tuesday, and added that they are finalizing the time with St. Peter's University and the parties involved.

Mayor Steven Fulop said, "Most of SPU’s student body is made up of commuters from the area, so it’s a unique opportunity to show local kids that they too can aspire to reach such groundbreaking achievements. That’s why we are also reaching out to local schools to get our students involved in the parade we are planning, as this is a chance to inspire Jersey City’s youth."

As the St. Peter's University men's basketball team celebrated the end of its underdog run in the NCAA championships, the mayor announced Sunday night that the city will have a parade to honor the local heroes.

After the #15-seeded Peacocks lost their "Elite 8" matchup against the #8 North Carolina Tar Heels, Mayor Steven Fulop wrote on Facebook, "Today's game changes very little for us. we couldn't be prouder + we'll 100 percent do a parade/keys to the city for this team to say THANK YOU properly from all of us in #JerseyCity + NJ. You showed the best of our city to the world."

St. Peter's alums and sports fans responded to the mayor's pronouncement by saying the team made them proud.

"I'm so happy to hear, these young men and their coach deserve to be honored and celebrated they contribution to Saint Peter’s University," said one woman. "This makes them legend for me and I'm a proud student of Saint Peter’s University."

"The team comes out of nowhere and captures the heart of the nation," a man remarked. "This was like Rocky and Rudy on steroids."

Meanwhile, among other news in the wake of Sunday's game, St. Peter's basketball coach Shaheen Holloway may become the next head basketball coach at Seton Hall, according to reports. Ryan Whalen might move up to fill his shoes at St. Peter's.

Watch Patch for updates and comment below.

Learn more about the team and the school here.

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