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Jim Boeheim must try to sleep with the knowledge that turning down a fan photo five years ago resulted the loss of a future first-round pick and a means out of ACC mediocrity.
Washington’s Isaiah Stewart has played himself out of the Best Freshmen In College Basketball rankings and into the Best Player in College Basketball conversation after averaging 18.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in 17 games with the Huskies.
Taking Syracuse up on a scholarship offer would have been an easy choice for the 6-foot-9 Rochester, New York native, who played on the same Albany City Rocks AAU team as Orange guards Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard.
But, an interaction, of lack of one, that Stewart had with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim when he was in eighth grade helped shift the trajectory of his path and shuffle the current college basketball landscape.
“It’s cool, I’m gonna make him regret it one day.” 😱
Rochester-native Isaiah Stewart sat down with @GoodmanHoops and recalled when Syracuse HC Jim Boeheim wouldn’t take a photo with him back in 8th grade. pic.twitter.com/PPjkplbNwd
— Stadium (@Stadium) January 16, 2020
Boeheim quickly responded to the accusation, claiming that it was a group of people who approached him and that he suggested taking the photo after the game ended.
“I never turn down pictures for anybody,” Boeheim told Jeff Goodman.
Tell that to a 13-year-old Isaiah Thomas over his sobbing. Now who’s the one sobbing? #CircleOfLife.
Toughest player to contain today @ McDAAG practice was Washington commit Isaiah Stewart! @Dreamville_33 pic.twitter.com/GREc9V4qT1
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) March 25, 2019
One man’s trash is another’s treasure. Wait for Washington head coach Mike Hopkins’ video bomb.
https://twitter.com/percyallen/status/1209387926162792448?s=20
Hopkins also happens to be a former Syracuse assistant and the reason Stewart chose Washington.
Insult meet Injury.
[h/t Syracuse.com]