The last time Fordham beat a Top 25 opponent, Jimmy Carter was president, gas was about 67 cents a gallon and Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” was the No. 1 record.

Nearly 33 years later, the Rams beat No. 22 Harvard, 60-54, Tuesday at Rose Hill Gym.

The Fordham win snapped a 54-game losing streak to ranked opponents stretching back to February 28, 1978 when the Rams knocked off then 18th-ranked Georgetown, 63-59, at Rose Hill.

The win followed a Dec. 29 victory over Georgia Tech and was Fordham’s third in a row and fourth in its last five games. Fordham is now 7-6. (more…)

NEW YORK — Jio Fontan and Tyshawn Taylor have been talking smack on the phone and in text messages for several weeks now.

With Fontan set to make his debut Saturday for Southern Cal (6-4) against Taylor and No. 3 Kansas (9-0) at Allen Field House (noon, ESPN), the chatter is running high between the two old friends and former St. Anthony teammates.

“I told him that’s a terrible place for him to come back,” cracked Taylor, Kansas’ junior point guard from Hoboken, N.J.

Said Fontan: “I’ve been calling him telling him how we’re going to beat them and he’s been calling me telling me how they’re going to blow us out.” (more…)

One of the most exciting point guards in the New York area is Tavon Sledge of Half Hollow Hills West on Long Island.

Though he is undersized, Sledge is tremendously quick, fierce and athletic.

When Hills West downed JayVaughn Pinkston and Bishop Loughlin last January, Sledge dropped 21 points in a 75-72 victory.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Sledge currently holds offers from St. John’s, Rutgers, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, Fordham, Rhode Island, Hofstra, Iowa State, UTEP and Marshall. (more…)

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – Derrick Randall may pull the trigger before the summer ends.

The 6-foot-9 senior, 225-pound who will spend his final year at South Kent (Conn.) after competing at Paterson (N.J.) Catholic says Rutgers leads his list right now.

“I like Rutgers a lot,” Randall, a Brooklyn native, said at the Peach Jam after the Playaz beat California Supreme, 80-49, behind Kyle Anderson’s 17 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, Myles Mack’s 16 points, Desmond Hubert’s 12 and Randall’s 7 points and 7 boards .

“I’m probably going to be making my decision in August deciding where I’m going to be committing to and then sign in the [fall].” (more…)

Monmouth transfer Travis Taylor has taken two visits so far.

He saw Seton Hall last Saturday and Boston College last Sunday and Monday. The 6-foot-7 Taylor is scheduled to visit Temple on Sunday and Monday.

“Right now that’s all the visits the Taylors have set up,” said Bill Diamond, Taylor’s mentor.

“I will sit down with Travis and his parents next week after the Temple visit and get a feel if they would like to utilize the remaining three visits (Seton Hall was an unofficial). Tennesse, Clemson and Fordham have expressed an interest to me and are under consideration. We wanted to wait until the Temple visit before we sat down and met again, so we can compare the three visits he’s taken. This is an extremely important decision for Travis and he and his parents want to explore all of their options and do their homework and research before making a well thought out and informed decision.” (more…)

NEW YORK – At 6-foot-9, 225 pounds Derrick Randall is an imposing figure on the AAU circuit.

The 2011 big man from Paterson Catholic will prep next year at South Kent (Conn.) alongside Kadeem Jack, Maurice Harkless and Ricardo Ledo.

“I’m looking forward to playing with all of them because it’s better competition,” Randall, 18, said Friday night at the Rumble in the Bronx at Fordham. “It gets you better. [It will] improve my game a lot and get [me] used to the college level, how they play.” (more…)

Despite the huge penalties levied by the NCAA against the Southern California football team Thursday, Jio Fontan and his teammates on the basketball team are somewhat relieved.

“It’s a little weird because as far as basketball-wise, things went pretty decent I guess. Of course we’d rather have no sanctions at all. But we understand we did wrong and we know we had to have some penalties,” Fontan, the Paterson, N.J. native and former St. Anthony star who transferred to USC from Fordham, said late Thursday night during a phone interview.

In January, USC implemented self-imposed sanctions on the basketball team in the wake of the O.J. Mayo scandal, but no additional penalties were levied Thursday. (more…)

There was a flurry of coaching movement Wednesday in the New York area.

St. Peter’s assistant coach John Morton has been offered an assistant coaching position under Tom Pecora at Fordham and is expected to take it.

Morton, a Bronx, N.Y. native, played on the 1989 Seton Hall team that reached the NCAA championship game before losing to Michigan.

He replaces Van Macon, who left Fordham to join Mike Rice’s staff at Rutgers.

Meantime, Kimani Young, the athletic director of the New Heights AAU program, will join the Rice High School staff under new coach Dwayne Mitchell while retaining his position at New Heights. (more…)

Rutgers coach Mike Rice has completed his staff by hiring Fordham associate head coach Van Macon, sources with knowledge said.

Macon, who worked under Tom Pecora at both Fordham and Hofstra, joins associate head coach David Cox and assistant Jimmy Martelli on the Rutgers staff. Jim Carr also remains as the recruiting coordinator.

Macon has also coached at Lafayette and Marist.

He played college ball at Nassau Community College, where he was recruited by Pecora, who was an assistant coach at Nassau at the time. He was voted the Region XV and Region XV Tournament Most Valuable Player and led Nassau to the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament in 1990. (more…)