The General.
That's the nickname Taysean Scott earned on the basketball court when he was 7 for his fearless style of play and innate ability to lead.The nickname stuck, and Scott has adopted a similar mentality on the football field. Scott, who grew up in Baltimore and attended McDonogh, is a star cornerback at Williams College. He made a name for himself on the field during his freshman season, starting nearly every game and dominating defensively.
Starting in mid-July, though, The General will join a new team: He's part of a 44-man roster that will represent the United States at the 2014 International Federation of American Football Under-19 World Championships in Kuwait.
"I'm really excited," Scott said. "I'm glad I have the opportunity to play for the U.S. Everyone is excited for me, and I'm ready to go over there and show what the U.S. has."
The roster is comprised of high school and college football players and includes players from 20 states. The U.S., which will compete against Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait and Mexico, won the tournament in Canton, Ohio, in 2009 but lost to Canada in Austin, Texas, in 2012.
"Speaking with him during the interview process he struck me as a really sharp kid and the kind of kid you want playing for your country," said Todd Bell, director of operations for USA football.
Bell said he and his staff mulled over hundreds of applications — from a mix of high school, Division I, Division II and Division III players — but Scott's on-field skill set combined with his driven personality made him the perfect fit.
"In a lot of ways putting a team like this together is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle blindfolded," Bell said. "You don't really know what it's going to look like until you're done."
Scott's coach at Williams, Aaron Kelton, nominated him to join the team. Kelton will also serve as the defensive line coach in Kuwait.
Kelton believes Scott has the tenacity and skill level to play Division I-AA. Though he assumes scouts were deterred by his 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame, Kelton said Scott's size isn't an issue.
Scott started his first game on the bench, but was on the field after three series, and stayed there.
Opposing offenses tried to pick on him; he was an unproven, undersized freshman. But time after time Scott responded, batting down passes and making receivers' lives miserable.Kelton remembers one game in particular early in the season when Scott broke up two passes.
"He looked over to the sideline and said 'Coach, I told you I was ready to do this,'" Kelton said. "He's just that kind of kid. He's not cocky, he's confident. He has a swagger about him."
That swagger is similar to that of his favorite player, Tyrann Mathieu, the undersized Arizona Cardinals defensive back who goes by the moniker Honey Badger.
When Scott arrived at Williams he had a blonde streak in his hair, just like the Honey Badger. Both players thrive on their energy and footwork.
Now the blonde streak is gone, but the intensity is still there.
"I just like to be a ball hawk," Scott said. "[Mathieu] is always around the ball making plays. I just love to get my team into the game like he does."
Scott, who has never traveled outside of the country, said he has no idea what to expect in Kuwait.
He knows it will be hot, but he's excited to get a flavor of what life is like there. Because he plans to play on the Williams basketball team next year, Scott wouldn't have had a chance to go abroad like many of his peers, but now he'll have that opportunity.
"There really was no hesitation when he found out he was nominated," Scott's father, Ronald, said. "He's never been a kid that shied away from opportunities, specifically this one."
Scott has been doing everything he can to ensure he's in prime shape when the competition rolls around on July 8. Every week, Monday through Thursday, he and his 16-year-old brother, Nigel, run one mile to a specific traffic light in his neighborhood and back.
Then they sprint — 110 meters, 300 meters, 500 meters. He's also been using a lifting program he learned at Williams to maintain his strength.
Kelton knows Scott embodies the roles of Ball Hawk, Honey Badger and General, but most of all he says Scott is a competitor.
"He can really go and get it," Kelton said. " … It wouldn't surprise me that in four years we're talking about him being an All-American."
thass@baltsun.com
twitter.com/TrevorHass
Monday, April 13, 2015
Soccer Without Borders helps children of refugees acclimate to new community
Warshan Hussin didn't speak English and knew only other Iraqis in the area when he moved to Baltimore in 2010. He was depressed and felt that people were always making fun of him behind his back.
But that changed when he discovered Soccer Without Borders, a free international program located in Nicaragua, Uganda and seven locations around the United States that uses soccer to help refugees, asylees and immigrants acclimate to their new community. Now, four years after joining Soccer Without Borders, Hussin is fluent in English and knows he has an opportunity to go to college.
"Soccer Without Borders gave me a reason to wake up again," Hussin said.
When Hussin joined Soccer Without Borders, the program had only one soccer ball and program director Jill Pardini said close to 85 percent of the 14-to-18-year-olds couldn't speak English.
Now Soccer Without Borders is flourishing through word of mouth, and has become an academic and athletic outlet for its participants. Founding director Ben Gucciardi said the Baltimore chapter is one of Soccer Without Borders' strongest programs. Enrollment has quadrupled from 2010 to 2014, and the organization now has 65 participants.
The high schoolers practice three times a week at Northeast Middle School, running drills, scrimmaging and preparing for tournaments.
"It's just amazing that I've been able to make friends from all over the world," Tresor Echa, 19, said with a smile. "It makes me really happy."
Pardini started the year-round Baltimore chapter of Soccer Without Borders in 2009.
She quickly realized the need for the program to expand when Muluberhan Bahre, a participant in Soccer Without Borders, invited her to his home. Bahre spoke minimal English and had just moved to Baltimore from Eritrea, a country on the Eastern Coast of Africa.
Pardini said she thought she was coming over for a casual chat. She soon found out just how vulnerable Bahre and his mother were.
His mother brought over a massive stack of paperwork. She had a slew of questions, which Bahre tried to translate into English. How do I pay this bill? Is my son going to get into trouble because he sees trouble around him? How do I sign up for English courses?
The list went on, and Pardini quickly realized she had the opportunity to turn Soccer Without Borders into a resource for the refugee community.
"I go, 'Wow,'" Pardini said. '"Soccer is the tip of the iceberg for what we could try to do.' That was a light bulb. There's a lot of need here."
So Pardini connected with people around the city who could help beef up Soccer Without Borders in Baltimore. The results soon became tangible, as enrollment grew year by year, from 16 to 32 to 50 to 65 participants.
Bahre graduated from Patterson High School and is now a rising sophomore majoring in biology at St. Mary's College.
"They've done a really tremendous job of becoming such a resource for the refugee community there," Soccer Without Borders executive director Mary McVeigh said of the Baltimore chapter.
Soccer Without Borders caters to middle schoolers and high schoolers, and academic director Teresa Towey said the program has a 100 percent college acceptance rate while helping kids feel comfortable in America.
That welcoming mentality has helped Hussin go from an introverted kid to an outgoing one. He's part of a midfield unit Pardini calls "Need for Speed" and is excited to showcase those skills at the Columbia Invitational tournament this weekend.
When he first met his best friend Glory Aganze, who is from Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 2010, he thought Aganze was cocky and intimidating. When they talked at Soccer Without Borders the following day, he observed just how warmhearted Aganze was. Aganze offered Hussin a binder in school when he didn't have one, and they've been inseparable ever since.
"All my friends now are from Soccer Without Borders," Hussin said in perfect English. "It's like a family."
thass@baltsun.com
twitter.com/TrevorHass
But that changed when he discovered Soccer Without Borders, a free international program located in Nicaragua, Uganda and seven locations around the United States that uses soccer to help refugees, asylees and immigrants acclimate to their new community. Now, four years after joining Soccer Without Borders, Hussin is fluent in English and knows he has an opportunity to go to college.
"Soccer Without Borders gave me a reason to wake up again," Hussin said.
When Hussin joined Soccer Without Borders, the program had only one soccer ball and program director Jill Pardini said close to 85 percent of the 14-to-18-year-olds couldn't speak English.
Now Soccer Without Borders is flourishing through word of mouth, and has become an academic and athletic outlet for its participants. Founding director Ben Gucciardi said the Baltimore chapter is one of Soccer Without Borders' strongest programs. Enrollment has quadrupled from 2010 to 2014, and the organization now has 65 participants.
The high schoolers practice three times a week at Northeast Middle School, running drills, scrimmaging and preparing for tournaments.
"It's just amazing that I've been able to make friends from all over the world," Tresor Echa, 19, said with a smile. "It makes me really happy."
Pardini started the year-round Baltimore chapter of Soccer Without Borders in 2009.
She quickly realized the need for the program to expand when Muluberhan Bahre, a participant in Soccer Without Borders, invited her to his home. Bahre spoke minimal English and had just moved to Baltimore from Eritrea, a country on the Eastern Coast of Africa.
Pardini said she thought she was coming over for a casual chat. She soon found out just how vulnerable Bahre and his mother were.
His mother brought over a massive stack of paperwork. She had a slew of questions, which Bahre tried to translate into English. How do I pay this bill? Is my son going to get into trouble because he sees trouble around him? How do I sign up for English courses?
The list went on, and Pardini quickly realized she had the opportunity to turn Soccer Without Borders into a resource for the refugee community.
"I go, 'Wow,'" Pardini said. '"Soccer is the tip of the iceberg for what we could try to do.' That was a light bulb. There's a lot of need here."
So Pardini connected with people around the city who could help beef up Soccer Without Borders in Baltimore. The results soon became tangible, as enrollment grew year by year, from 16 to 32 to 50 to 65 participants.
Bahre graduated from Patterson High School and is now a rising sophomore majoring in biology at St. Mary's College.
"They've done a really tremendous job of becoming such a resource for the refugee community there," Soccer Without Borders executive director Mary McVeigh said of the Baltimore chapter.
Soccer Without Borders caters to middle schoolers and high schoolers, and academic director Teresa Towey said the program has a 100 percent college acceptance rate while helping kids feel comfortable in America.
That welcoming mentality has helped Hussin go from an introverted kid to an outgoing one. He's part of a midfield unit Pardini calls "Need for Speed" and is excited to showcase those skills at the Columbia Invitational tournament this weekend.
When he first met his best friend Glory Aganze, who is from Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 2010, he thought Aganze was cocky and intimidating. When they talked at Soccer Without Borders the following day, he observed just how warmhearted Aganze was. Aganze offered Hussin a binder in school when he didn't have one, and they've been inseparable ever since.
"All my friends now are from Soccer Without Borders," Hussin said in perfect English. "It's like a family."
thass@baltsun.com
twitter.com/TrevorHass
Baltimore hopefuls don't hear their names called at NBA draft
Baltimore native C.J. Fair was not selected in Thursday night's NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fair, who played at Syracuse for four years and emerged as a star his junior and senior seasons, was projected as a mid-to-late second round pick by many sites.
The former City star trained with George Gervin and John Lucas to prepare for the draft and was confident heading into the night that he would hear his name called. Fair worked out with 16 of the NBA's 32 teams, but none of them took a chance on the 6-foot-8 forward.
Fair could not be reached for comment.
Roscoe Smith (UNLV/Walbrook), Davon Usher (Delaware/Digital Harbor), Jerrelle Benimon (Towson), Aquille Carr (Delaware 87ers/Patterson) and Ian Chiles (Morgan State) also went undrafted.
Elfrid Payton (Louisiana-Lafayette), whose father Elfrid Payton Sr. played on the 1995 Canadian Football League champion Baltimore Stallions, was drafted 10th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was then traded to the Orlando Magic for No. 12 overall pick Dario Saric.
thass@baltsun.com
twitter.com/TrevorHass
Fair, who played at Syracuse for four years and emerged as a star his junior and senior seasons, was projected as a mid-to-late second round pick by many sites.
The former City star trained with George Gervin and John Lucas to prepare for the draft and was confident heading into the night that he would hear his name called. Fair worked out with 16 of the NBA's 32 teams, but none of them took a chance on the 6-foot-8 forward.
Fair could not be reached for comment.
Roscoe Smith (UNLV/Walbrook), Davon Usher (Delaware/Digital Harbor), Jerrelle Benimon (Towson), Aquille Carr (Delaware 87ers/Patterson) and Ian Chiles (Morgan State) also went undrafted.
Elfrid Payton (Louisiana-Lafayette), whose father Elfrid Payton Sr. played on the 1995 Canadian Football League champion Baltimore Stallions, was drafted 10th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was then traded to the Orlando Magic for No. 12 overall pick Dario Saric.
thass@baltsun.com
twitter.com/TrevorHass
Gbinije brothers: Duke transfer Michael plays with brother Brandon on mind in 1st season with Syracuse
Michael and Brandon Gbinije are complete opposites.
That’s according to their mother Yvette, the woman who’s guided them toward adulthood.
Michael stands at 6 feet 7 inches, while Brandon is 5 feet 9 inches. Michael is the classic extrovert, always out and about meeting new people. Brandon prefers to stay at home and inside.
Michael plays on the Syracuse basketball team. Brandon is a freshman at Richard Bland College in Petersburg, Va., and lives with their parents.
Their differences stick out right away, but they also bring them together. It’s what makes them so inseparable. It’s why every time Michael steps on the court, he has Brandon in mind. This year, as he plays backup point guard and sometimes shooting guard for Syracuse after transferring from Duke, he’ll be doing it all for Brandon.
After all, he’s his best friend. They’re both each other’s inspiration. Michael knows Brandon doesn’t have the physical ability he does, so he plays for Brandon. To make his brother proud.
“That’s my favorite human being in the world,” Michael said with a grin.
Michael wears No. 0 in honor of Brandon. Brandon’s favorite superstar when he was a child was Gilbert Arenas, who goes by the moniker “Agent Zero.” When Michael played at Duke, Brandon loved watching Austin Rivers, who donned No. 0, as well.
Michael also wears the No. 0 because he is out of chances. After barely seeing the floor at Duke, he knows this is his last opportunity. Brandon would love to play Division I basketball, so Michael has to live the dream for him.
“I know he wants to accomplish some goals that I have accomplished, but he just can’t,” Michael said. “He just doesn’t have the ability. Sometimes I wish I could give him the experience, so that’s why I do what I do.”
Michael was 2 years old when Brandon was born. They immediately became incredibly close.
As children, they would read the “Cat in the Hat” together. Brandon even dressed up as the Cat from the book for Halloween one year.
They both spray-painted their hair green for “Crazy Hair Day” in elementary school — the Dennis Rodman look, Brandon called it.
And as they grew older together, they became pranksters.
Michael smiled while talking about the time he and Brandon tied their dad’s shoes together when he was asleep. He and Brandon dressed up in costumes to freak out their chihuahua Tyga sometimes, too.
For Christmas in 2011, Michael bought Brandon a dark gray “Beavis and Butthead” T-shirt. It was Brandon’s favorite show. The shirt is the best gift he’s ever gotten from Michael.
“We watch a lot of comedy movies,” Michael said. “A lot of ‘Step Brothers,’ Will Ferrell, ‘Jackass.’ All that good stuff.”
Michael listens as Brandon reels off his list of impressions. One of his favorites is John Wall, where he speaks rapidly and in clichés and changes the inflection of his voice to sound like the Washington Wizards point guard.
“He sometimes looks to me for jokes,” Brandon said. “Sometimes I give him jokes. Sometimes most of them are not funny, but I try.”
But even more so, the brothers have bonded through basketball.
Brandon remembers when they went to a game between Michael Jordan’s Wizards and Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in November 2002. Brandon pulled for his favorite team, the Wizards, while Michael rooted for the visitors.
The two legends went back and forth as Brandon and Michael watched in awe, mesmerized by the incredible skill both players possessed. Jordan finished with 25 points and Bryant dropped 27 as the Wizards beat the Lakers 100-99.
Brandon was pumped.
“I was totally excited and proud,” Brandon said.
But he never taunts Michael when his team wins. He’s “not the taunting type” because he knows Michael never does that to him.
Brandon said Michael has beaten him 148 out of 150 times in games of 21. They’ll go out and play in their driveway on their NBA-style hoop. And nearly every time, Michael will win. But he’s always supportive afterward and never puts his brother down.
While the pranks and laughs have continued throughout the years, Brandon followed every step of Michael’s basketball journey as it became more and more serious.
He went to every one of Michael’s basketball games at Benedictine College Preparatory in Richmond, Va. As Michael honed his game and quickly became one of the smoothest, most dominant players in Virginia, Brandon watched from the stands and cheered.
Michael’s high school coach Sean McAloon reminisced about how after every game, Brandon would walk over to Michael and congratulate him, win or lose. McAloon said Brandon was Michael’s biggest supporter.
After talking to his brother, Brandon would walk over to McAloon and congratulate him, too. Win or loss.
“Great game, Coach. Great game.”
Michael never dwelled on bad games because of Brandon’s unwavering support. He was just fortunate to have the chance to play.
“He can see what his brother has gone through,” said Yvette Gbinije, the boys’ mother. “I think that humbles him more. He’s really proud of him.”
Michael’s high school assistant coach Mike Strickland recalls during Michael’s senior season that he would always ask if Brandon could join in pick-up games. Even though Brandon wasn’t close to the other players physically, Michael would always include him.
When Michael went to college, though, it became more difficult to keep in touch. They don’t see each other nearly as much as they used to. Brandon is majoring in engineering, but also wants to go into the medical field. And on top of that, he’s interested in directing films.
He plans to make a live-action drama of the movie “Balto,” a dog that helped save children in Alaska in 1925. Brandon’s possibilities are endless.
Michael’s transition to college wasn’t quite as seamless. A lack of playing time, coupled with difficulty adjusting to the culture, sparked an unexpected transfer.
Not even Mom knew he was going to transfer. She knew it was a possibility, but was shocked when she heard the news.
“Actually, he really didn’t say much to us because he knew how we would react,” Yvette Gbinije said. “We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know what to say.”
After sitting out due to eligibility rules last season, Michael’s busy trying to fit in at Syracuse and get accustomed to his role on a new team once again.
But this time, he’s an integral part of a national championship contender, not simply a bench-dweller. He’s never played point guard before and struggled bringing the ball up in the preseason.
His mom said he loves it, though, and is eager for the challenge.
For the kid who gracefully and coolly thrashed high school competition and then sat on the bench at Duke, he’ll have a chance to shine once again with Syracuse. Backup point guard is the Orange’s Achilles’ heel, and Michael will be expected to fill that void.
No matter how well or how poorly he plays at point guard, Michael knows Brandon will be proud of him. Although their time together has dwindled, it makes seeing each other that much more special.
Whenever Michael returns home, they always greet each other the same way: a hug followed by a high five. Sometimes Brandon is so excited to see Michael that when they play fight, Brandon hits him as hard as he can. So hard it actually hurts, Michael said.
“We talk a little bit, then hit the games,” Brandon said. “Video games, board games, you name it.”
Uno, checkers, Scrabble, “NBA 2K.” Michael usually takes Brandon in checkers, but Brandon has his number in Scrabble.
The next time they’ll see each other is during Thanksgiving Break, when the Gbinijes head to Maui, Hawaii, to see Michael and the Orange play.
For the rest of his playing career at Syracuse, and maybe even in the NBA, Michael will always have a No. 1 fan. Something — someone — to play for and keep him motivated.
“Everything’s a struggle (for Brandon), but he just keeps going,” said Yvette Gbinije. “That’s why I think Michael looks at him as his inspiration.”
That’s according to their mother Yvette, the woman who’s guided them toward adulthood.
Michael stands at 6 feet 7 inches, while Brandon is 5 feet 9 inches. Michael is the classic extrovert, always out and about meeting new people. Brandon prefers to stay at home and inside.
Michael plays on the Syracuse basketball team. Brandon is a freshman at Richard Bland College in Petersburg, Va., and lives with their parents.
Their differences stick out right away, but they also bring them together. It’s what makes them so inseparable. It’s why every time Michael steps on the court, he has Brandon in mind. This year, as he plays backup point guard and sometimes shooting guard for Syracuse after transferring from Duke, he’ll be doing it all for Brandon.
After all, he’s his best friend. They’re both each other’s inspiration. Michael knows Brandon doesn’t have the physical ability he does, so he plays for Brandon. To make his brother proud.
“That’s my favorite human being in the world,” Michael said with a grin.
Michael wears No. 0 in honor of Brandon. Brandon’s favorite superstar when he was a child was Gilbert Arenas, who goes by the moniker “Agent Zero.” When Michael played at Duke, Brandon loved watching Austin Rivers, who donned No. 0, as well.
Michael also wears the No. 0 because he is out of chances. After barely seeing the floor at Duke, he knows this is his last opportunity. Brandon would love to play Division I basketball, so Michael has to live the dream for him.
“I know he wants to accomplish some goals that I have accomplished, but he just can’t,” Michael said. “He just doesn’t have the ability. Sometimes I wish I could give him the experience, so that’s why I do what I do.”
Michael was 2 years old when Brandon was born. They immediately became incredibly close.
As children, they would read the “Cat in the Hat” together. Brandon even dressed up as the Cat from the book for Halloween one year.
They both spray-painted their hair green for “Crazy Hair Day” in elementary school — the Dennis Rodman look, Brandon called it.
And as they grew older together, they became pranksters.
Michael smiled while talking about the time he and Brandon tied their dad’s shoes together when he was asleep. He and Brandon dressed up in costumes to freak out their chihuahua Tyga sometimes, too.
For Christmas in 2011, Michael bought Brandon a dark gray “Beavis and Butthead” T-shirt. It was Brandon’s favorite show. The shirt is the best gift he’s ever gotten from Michael.
“We watch a lot of comedy movies,” Michael said. “A lot of ‘Step Brothers,’ Will Ferrell, ‘Jackass.’ All that good stuff.”
Michael listens as Brandon reels off his list of impressions. One of his favorites is John Wall, where he speaks rapidly and in clichés and changes the inflection of his voice to sound like the Washington Wizards point guard.
“He sometimes looks to me for jokes,” Brandon said. “Sometimes I give him jokes. Sometimes most of them are not funny, but I try.”
But even more so, the brothers have bonded through basketball.
Brandon remembers when they went to a game between Michael Jordan’s Wizards and Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in November 2002. Brandon pulled for his favorite team, the Wizards, while Michael rooted for the visitors.
The two legends went back and forth as Brandon and Michael watched in awe, mesmerized by the incredible skill both players possessed. Jordan finished with 25 points and Bryant dropped 27 as the Wizards beat the Lakers 100-99.
Brandon was pumped.
“I was totally excited and proud,” Brandon said.
But he never taunts Michael when his team wins. He’s “not the taunting type” because he knows Michael never does that to him.
Brandon said Michael has beaten him 148 out of 150 times in games of 21. They’ll go out and play in their driveway on their NBA-style hoop. And nearly every time, Michael will win. But he’s always supportive afterward and never puts his brother down.
While the pranks and laughs have continued throughout the years, Brandon followed every step of Michael’s basketball journey as it became more and more serious.
He went to every one of Michael’s basketball games at Benedictine College Preparatory in Richmond, Va. As Michael honed his game and quickly became one of the smoothest, most dominant players in Virginia, Brandon watched from the stands and cheered.
Michael’s high school coach Sean McAloon reminisced about how after every game, Brandon would walk over to Michael and congratulate him, win or lose. McAloon said Brandon was Michael’s biggest supporter.
After talking to his brother, Brandon would walk over to McAloon and congratulate him, too. Win or loss.
“Great game, Coach. Great game.”
Michael never dwelled on bad games because of Brandon’s unwavering support. He was just fortunate to have the chance to play.
“He can see what his brother has gone through,” said Yvette Gbinije, the boys’ mother. “I think that humbles him more. He’s really proud of him.”
Michael’s high school assistant coach Mike Strickland recalls during Michael’s senior season that he would always ask if Brandon could join in pick-up games. Even though Brandon wasn’t close to the other players physically, Michael would always include him.
When Michael went to college, though, it became more difficult to keep in touch. They don’t see each other nearly as much as they used to. Brandon is majoring in engineering, but also wants to go into the medical field. And on top of that, he’s interested in directing films.
He plans to make a live-action drama of the movie “Balto,” a dog that helped save children in Alaska in 1925. Brandon’s possibilities are endless.
Michael’s transition to college wasn’t quite as seamless. A lack of playing time, coupled with difficulty adjusting to the culture, sparked an unexpected transfer.
Not even Mom knew he was going to transfer. She knew it was a possibility, but was shocked when she heard the news.
“Actually, he really didn’t say much to us because he knew how we would react,” Yvette Gbinije said. “We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know what to say.”
After sitting out due to eligibility rules last season, Michael’s busy trying to fit in at Syracuse and get accustomed to his role on a new team once again.
But this time, he’s an integral part of a national championship contender, not simply a bench-dweller. He’s never played point guard before and struggled bringing the ball up in the preseason.
His mom said he loves it, though, and is eager for the challenge.
For the kid who gracefully and coolly thrashed high school competition and then sat on the bench at Duke, he’ll have a chance to shine once again with Syracuse. Backup point guard is the Orange’s Achilles’ heel, and Michael will be expected to fill that void.
No matter how well or how poorly he plays at point guard, Michael knows Brandon will be proud of him. Although their time together has dwindled, it makes seeing each other that much more special.
Whenever Michael returns home, they always greet each other the same way: a hug followed by a high five. Sometimes Brandon is so excited to see Michael that when they play fight, Brandon hits him as hard as he can. So hard it actually hurts, Michael said.
“We talk a little bit, then hit the games,” Brandon said. “Video games, board games, you name it.”
Uno, checkers, Scrabble, “NBA 2K.” Michael usually takes Brandon in checkers, but Brandon has his number in Scrabble.
The next time they’ll see each other is during Thanksgiving Break, when the Gbinijes head to Maui, Hawaii, to see Michael and the Orange play.
For the rest of his playing career at Syracuse, and maybe even in the NBA, Michael will always have a No. 1 fan. Something — someone — to play for and keep him motivated.
“Everything’s a struggle (for Brandon), but he just keeps going,” said Yvette Gbinije. “That’s why I think Michael looks at him as his inspiration.”
True grit: Shafer implements ‘hard-nosed’ culture at Syracuse in 1st year as head coach in ACC
Three yards and a cloud of dust. That’s the way Syracuse starts every practice.
The offense tries to move the ball three yards in three downs while the defense vehemently tries to impede its progress. The winner revels in the glory while the loser is punished with up-downs.
It’s a drill that first-year head coach Scott Shafer learned from legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes while growing up in Northeast Ohio. When Shafer played quarterback for his father, Ron, at Riverside High School in Painesville, the practice fields were all mud, dirt and dust.
Shafer knew that when he became a head coach – a job he’s wanted since before college – he’d make sure his team used three yards and a cloud of dust.
“It’s a frickin’ war,” Shafer said.
The drill epitomizes the brand of football Shafer wants his team to play in its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange will rely on “hard-nosed” football – as Shafer has dubbed it – to succeed. It’s a phrase he has uttered frequently in his first eight months as head coach, while mastering his already adept visor toss and assembling a crew of assistant coaches equally fiery and focused.
Syracuse doesn’t have the raw talent that teams like No. 8 Clemson and No. 11 Florida State possess, but Shafer hopes intensity, relentlessness and toughness will be enough to compete. He expects passion to emanate from every drill, every workout and every game.
“We may not be as big, we may not be as fast,” Shafer said, “but doggonit, we want to play a style of football where we’re knocking the hell out of people and playing a hard-nosed game.”
Defensive line coach Tim Daoust knows all about hard-nosed football. He’s known Shafer for 12 years and believes in his relentless approach. That’s why Daoust unremittingly yells at his players – he feels the intensity will prepare them for the regular season. It’s why he lost his voice just three days into training camp.
During an Aug. 20 practice, the defense jumped offsides during a live-game simulation of a field goal. Shafer lost it.
He threw his trademark white, wide-brimmed visor on the ground in disgust. Those nuances and “controlling the controllables,” as Shafer puts it, are what he believes will determine the team’s success.
Daoust said the visor toss isn’t a new element in Shafer’s repertoire.
When Shafer was a defensive coordinator at Western Michigan, his players even made a compilation video of his best visor tosses.
“The county fair’s this week, right?” Daoust said, completely straight-faced. “We could take him to the fair and he could knock down those little milk pints or whatever they are.”
Much like Daoust, offensive line coach Pat Perles rarely lets his players off the hook. If they make a mistake, they’re always held accountable.
“F*ck you guys,” he yelled to his linemen moments after completing a Shafer-esque hat chuck. They stopped pushing forward into the cushiony orange mats before Perles deemed the drill finished.
Syracuse center Macky MacPherson detailed one drill during which Perles has his players grab 35-pound sand bags, squat and shuffle their feet. Five reps. Twenty seconds per rep. Shafer said games are won in the trenches. Drills like those showcase the hard-nosed mentality he’s tried to infuse into the Orange’s culture.
“It’s not just a gimmick,” MacPherson said. “It’s something Coach Shafer really does believe in.”
Shafer’s wife, Missy, said she hears the phrase all the time: “Don’t you change.”
The Shafers still live in the same house despite Shafer’s promotion. Missy Shafer still shops at Wegmans with a baseball hat, no makeup and a mismatched shirt and shorts.
Just because the team lost a crop of stellar seniors – including star quarterback Ryan Nassib –doesn’t mean it has to change its ways. The approach is unwavering. Do what’s gotten you this far and you’ll be fine.
So they won’t alter too much. But the question remains whether staying the same and being mentally and physically tough will be enough.
The team has bought in. MacPherson described the Orange as an “intense, ground-and-pound, we’re-gonna-impose-our-will-on-you kind of team.”
“#Hard-nosed,” MacPherson said. “It’s nose to the grindstone, blue collar, anything you can possibly imagine. Outwork your opponent and beat him down while you do it.”
It’s no secret. ACC teams are faster, stronger and certainly more skilled from top to bottom than Big East teams. Shafer knows Syracuse is in for a tall task. Doug Marrone’s departure to the Buffalo Bills in January left unanswered questions, and made the conference switch even more daunting.
The Orange is the underdog. But Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Performance Will Hicks said that’s just fine.
“I think Coach Shafe embraces being the underdog a little bit,” Hicks said. “It gets him fired up.”
That’s who he is. Praise from his players, assistant coaches and wife is consistent. The 46-year-old Shafer’s fusion of passion and compassion is showcased in everything he does, and that blend seems to have permeated throughout the entire team.
One of the staples of Shafer’s approach is that he always holds people accountable and never lets them feel sorry for themselves. When Missy Shafer was diagnosed with malignant melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – while the family lived in Michigan more than four years ago, Shafer told her not to feel sorry for herself. He supported her and helped her, never letting her give up.
“This is unfortunate, it’s tough, but it’s life,” Missy Shafer said. “It’s how you handle it and how you get through it.”
And she did. After getting surgery at one of the premier melanoma-treating hospitals in the country, the cancer was history.
Ups and downs will come in the ACC – just like they did in Missy’s case and in the Big East. It’s a matter of staying resolute and bouncing back.
Shafer took training camp as an opportunity to see how players responded to adversity. He said he was most proud of the team last season, when it dug itself out of a 2-4 start to finish 8-5 by not changing its approach and continuing to plow forward with determination.
Change is the only constant in Syracuse, but Shafer said his team is up for the challenge. He’s not concerned that SU was picked sixth out of seven in its division. He’s more preoccupied with ensuring the Orange finishes on top, despite the seemingly infinite mountain ahead.
“It’s a challenge that we relish,” Shafer said. “We’re not afraid of anybody at Syracuse. Never have been.”
Never back down. Put in the effort and control the controllables by playing hard-nosed football. The rest will work itself out.
“He wants things to be done the right way,” Hicks said, “but it’s all in a positive approach. He’s not going to accept things not being right. There’s no gray.”
Defensive tackle Jay Bromley laughed when asked how many times Shafer says the phrase “hard-nosed” in a typical practice.
“Hard-nosed,” Bromley said, scratching his chin. “Hard-nosed. Anywhere between five,” Bromley paused and laughed again, “and 20. It depends on how we’re playing.”
Bromley said Shafer has to yell at both the offense and defense now, which means he’s shouting “hard-nosed” twice as much as he did as Syracuse’s defensive coordinator.
Even the team meetings are more intense, running back Jerome Smith said, with Shafer at the helm.
“His press conference made someone want to go out and play for him right now,” Smith said. “He has everybody fired up.”
The team believes in Shafer’s approach. Syracuse is confident it can shock some teams. The Orange opens the season against Penn State and No. 22 Northwestern. It faces national title contender Clemson just three games later.
That doesn’t faze Bromley, though. He said confidence is soaring and the players truly believe they can leave a dent in the conference. When asked about his realistic goal for the season, Bromley said he wanted Syracuse to win the ACC championship.
It sounds farfetched to an outsider, but those inside the bubble are starting to believe in Shafer’s ways. Maybe they can shock the world.
If Syracuse finds itself in a third-and-goal situation with the ball on the three in the game’s waning minutes, Shafer hopes both the offense and defense will know exactly what to do.
Finish how they start every practice – three yards and a cloud of dust.
The offense tries to move the ball three yards in three downs while the defense vehemently tries to impede its progress. The winner revels in the glory while the loser is punished with up-downs.
It’s a drill that first-year head coach Scott Shafer learned from legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes while growing up in Northeast Ohio. When Shafer played quarterback for his father, Ron, at Riverside High School in Painesville, the practice fields were all mud, dirt and dust.
Shafer knew that when he became a head coach – a job he’s wanted since before college – he’d make sure his team used three yards and a cloud of dust.
“It’s a frickin’ war,” Shafer said.
The drill epitomizes the brand of football Shafer wants his team to play in its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange will rely on “hard-nosed” football – as Shafer has dubbed it – to succeed. It’s a phrase he has uttered frequently in his first eight months as head coach, while mastering his already adept visor toss and assembling a crew of assistant coaches equally fiery and focused.
Syracuse doesn’t have the raw talent that teams like No. 8 Clemson and No. 11 Florida State possess, but Shafer hopes intensity, relentlessness and toughness will be enough to compete. He expects passion to emanate from every drill, every workout and every game.
“We may not be as big, we may not be as fast,” Shafer said, “but doggonit, we want to play a style of football where we’re knocking the hell out of people and playing a hard-nosed game.”
Defensive line coach Tim Daoust knows all about hard-nosed football. He’s known Shafer for 12 years and believes in his relentless approach. That’s why Daoust unremittingly yells at his players – he feels the intensity will prepare them for the regular season. It’s why he lost his voice just three days into training camp.
During an Aug. 20 practice, the defense jumped offsides during a live-game simulation of a field goal. Shafer lost it.
He threw his trademark white, wide-brimmed visor on the ground in disgust. Those nuances and “controlling the controllables,” as Shafer puts it, are what he believes will determine the team’s success.
Daoust said the visor toss isn’t a new element in Shafer’s repertoire.
When Shafer was a defensive coordinator at Western Michigan, his players even made a compilation video of his best visor tosses.
“The county fair’s this week, right?” Daoust said, completely straight-faced. “We could take him to the fair and he could knock down those little milk pints or whatever they are.”
Much like Daoust, offensive line coach Pat Perles rarely lets his players off the hook. If they make a mistake, they’re always held accountable.
“F*ck you guys,” he yelled to his linemen moments after completing a Shafer-esque hat chuck. They stopped pushing forward into the cushiony orange mats before Perles deemed the drill finished.
Syracuse center Macky MacPherson detailed one drill during which Perles has his players grab 35-pound sand bags, squat and shuffle their feet. Five reps. Twenty seconds per rep. Shafer said games are won in the trenches. Drills like those showcase the hard-nosed mentality he’s tried to infuse into the Orange’s culture.
“It’s not just a gimmick,” MacPherson said. “It’s something Coach Shafer really does believe in.”
Shafer’s wife, Missy, said she hears the phrase all the time: “Don’t you change.”
The Shafers still live in the same house despite Shafer’s promotion. Missy Shafer still shops at Wegmans with a baseball hat, no makeup and a mismatched shirt and shorts.
Just because the team lost a crop of stellar seniors – including star quarterback Ryan Nassib –doesn’t mean it has to change its ways. The approach is unwavering. Do what’s gotten you this far and you’ll be fine.
So they won’t alter too much. But the question remains whether staying the same and being mentally and physically tough will be enough.
The team has bought in. MacPherson described the Orange as an “intense, ground-and-pound, we’re-gonna-impose-our-will-on-you kind of team.”
“#Hard-nosed,” MacPherson said. “It’s nose to the grindstone, blue collar, anything you can possibly imagine. Outwork your opponent and beat him down while you do it.”
It’s no secret. ACC teams are faster, stronger and certainly more skilled from top to bottom than Big East teams. Shafer knows Syracuse is in for a tall task. Doug Marrone’s departure to the Buffalo Bills in January left unanswered questions, and made the conference switch even more daunting.
The Orange is the underdog. But Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Performance Will Hicks said that’s just fine.
“I think Coach Shafe embraces being the underdog a little bit,” Hicks said. “It gets him fired up.”
That’s who he is. Praise from his players, assistant coaches and wife is consistent. The 46-year-old Shafer’s fusion of passion and compassion is showcased in everything he does, and that blend seems to have permeated throughout the entire team.
One of the staples of Shafer’s approach is that he always holds people accountable and never lets them feel sorry for themselves. When Missy Shafer was diagnosed with malignant melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – while the family lived in Michigan more than four years ago, Shafer told her not to feel sorry for herself. He supported her and helped her, never letting her give up.
“This is unfortunate, it’s tough, but it’s life,” Missy Shafer said. “It’s how you handle it and how you get through it.”
And she did. After getting surgery at one of the premier melanoma-treating hospitals in the country, the cancer was history.
Ups and downs will come in the ACC – just like they did in Missy’s case and in the Big East. It’s a matter of staying resolute and bouncing back.
Shafer took training camp as an opportunity to see how players responded to adversity. He said he was most proud of the team last season, when it dug itself out of a 2-4 start to finish 8-5 by not changing its approach and continuing to plow forward with determination.
Change is the only constant in Syracuse, but Shafer said his team is up for the challenge. He’s not concerned that SU was picked sixth out of seven in its division. He’s more preoccupied with ensuring the Orange finishes on top, despite the seemingly infinite mountain ahead.
“It’s a challenge that we relish,” Shafer said. “We’re not afraid of anybody at Syracuse. Never have been.”
Never back down. Put in the effort and control the controllables by playing hard-nosed football. The rest will work itself out.
“He wants things to be done the right way,” Hicks said, “but it’s all in a positive approach. He’s not going to accept things not being right. There’s no gray.”
Defensive tackle Jay Bromley laughed when asked how many times Shafer says the phrase “hard-nosed” in a typical practice.
“Hard-nosed,” Bromley said, scratching his chin. “Hard-nosed. Anywhere between five,” Bromley paused and laughed again, “and 20. It depends on how we’re playing.”
Bromley said Shafer has to yell at both the offense and defense now, which means he’s shouting “hard-nosed” twice as much as he did as Syracuse’s defensive coordinator.
Even the team meetings are more intense, running back Jerome Smith said, with Shafer at the helm.
“His press conference made someone want to go out and play for him right now,” Smith said. “He has everybody fired up.”
The team believes in Shafer’s approach. Syracuse is confident it can shock some teams. The Orange opens the season against Penn State and No. 22 Northwestern. It faces national title contender Clemson just three games later.
That doesn’t faze Bromley, though. He said confidence is soaring and the players truly believe they can leave a dent in the conference. When asked about his realistic goal for the season, Bromley said he wanted Syracuse to win the ACC championship.
It sounds farfetched to an outsider, but those inside the bubble are starting to believe in Shafer’s ways. Maybe they can shock the world.
If Syracuse finds itself in a third-and-goal situation with the ball on the three in the game’s waning minutes, Shafer hopes both the offense and defense will know exactly what to do.
Finish how they start every practice – three yards and a cloud of dust.
Home stretch: 5-star signee McCullough nears arrival at Syracuse after tumultuous senior season
NEW YORK — Walking into the Brewster (N.H.) Academy locker room before a game was nothing new for Chris McCullough.
But on Dec. 14, McCullough entered the room, which he used to call his home, as a visitor. He joked and got dressed with his old teammates, just like he used to.
Though his life changed completely in just one month, McCullough felt like nothing was different at all.
“I came right back and felt like I was still there,” McCullough said. “I had to go to the locker room and show love to them.”
After getting kicked out of Brewster on Nov. 11 for a violation of school rules, he moved from blustery Wolfeboro, N.H., to tropical Bradenton, Fla., to start over at IMG Academy — his third school in as many years. And in just a few weeks, he’ll start over again, this time at Syracuse.
Touted as arguably the program’s best recruit since Carmelo Anthony, McCullough, the No. 15 recruit in the nation according to Scout.com, will look to live up to the hype that’s accompanied him ever since his days playing at Salisbury (Conn.) School.
But when he gets to Syracuse, he’ll continually be asked why he was expelled.
He doesn’t like to talk about that part of his past. It’s simply a part of who he is — like the tattoo commemorating his murdered cousin. Or the birthmark that splotches his right arm. Or his high-flying athleticism.
Just a fragment of an eventful past. A blip he won’t let stop him from getting to where he wants to be.
“There’s going to be a day when the light goes on,” Brewster head coach Jason Smith said, “and people are going to be blown away by what his career could be.”
***
Danielle McCoy, who will graduate from Syracuse in May, couldn’t believe the news.
Her friend who works for SU Athletics told her that McCullough, her cousin, was kicked out of Brewster.
“I’m like, ‘Wow,’” McCoy said, drawing out the last word. “It was just as much of a shock to us as it was to everyone else.”
This wasn’t the same kid she grew up 20 seconds from. The kid she drove to City Island with on a whim, just to get some seafood. The kid who cared so deeply for his three sisters and generally stayed out of trouble in a neighborhood McCoy said is laden with crime.
“We know a lot of people that have been murdered or are in jail,” McCoy said. “He’s definitely had friends that have gone down the wrong path.”
McCullough doesn’t let too many details of his life out. He keeps them close, in a tight circle of friends and family he trusts.
When asked why he was kicked out of Brewster, McCullough simply shook his head.
“I had some trouble off the court. Did something off the court, something I wasn’t supposed to do.
“I don’t put that out.”
When the news first broke, McCullough tweeted that he was accountable for his actions. Since that point, he’s tried to make the expulsion disappear.
“You always hope kids will make positive choices,” Smith said, “but at the same time kids do make poor choices.
“It’s about helping them grow and making them accountable.”
While McCullough has fond memories of Brewster, it too is simply a part of his past. And while he loved seeing his old teammates and felt like he was at home, he knew he was not.
He was with a new team in IMG, and it was time to start over once again.
“He has a very positive outlook on life,” McCoy said. “He understands that not everything goes your way. Because he’s so focused, it allows him to adapt to different changes that happen.
“He is able to take that and transfer it into something great.”
***
When IMG head coach John Mahoney started coaching McCullough, he sensed that McCullough was hesitant to open up. He knew that would come with time, but at first it wasn’t easy.
“Chris was quiet when we first met him,” Mahoney said. “When kids move around a little bit, they kind of get protective.”
So when Mahoney first met McCullough — the 6-foot-9 rangy, fleet-footed prospect everyone was drooling over — he looked him in the eye and delivered a simple message.
“I don’t want anything from you,” Mahoney said. “I just want you to know that.”
Many people were trying to “be boys” with him along with way, Mahoney said, but he ensured McCullough there was none of that at IMG. He didn’t want money or a job down the road from McCullough.
“I think once he understood that, he kind of respected that,” Mahoney said. “We got a little bit closer and he’s been a little bit more comfortable since then.”
When McCullough first arrived at IMG — though he was the team’s most talented player — he didn’t start right away. IMG already had good chemistry, and Mahoney didn’t want McCullough to mess up the team’s mojo.
In his first game, he came off the bench and scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The next game he dropped 20.
Yet even as his numbers swelled, he still came off the bench.
“Before I went there, my coach told me everything had to be earned,” McCullough said. “I told him I’d earn my spot there. I wasn’t even worried about it.”
And eventually, he did. McCullough started his first game against Elev8 two months into the season.
McCullough’s teammate Eric Cooper Jr., who will play for Nevada next year, said it was just a matter of learning the plays. Once he had that squared away, it was showtime.
“We’d run a few plays for him where we’d just give him the ball and get out of the way,” Cooper said. “He’d dunk on somebody, or something like that.”
Mahoney said McCullough missed one practice throughout the year. He reprimanded him just like he would any other player, and that was that. Otherwise McCullough was a pleasure to coach, and the character issues people talked about never surfaced.
As he spent more time at IMG, McCullough rediscovered his element, both on the court and off. The 75-degree weather didn’t hurt. His five-room, four-person condo wasn’t too shabby either. He gradually earned the trust of his teammates and they earned his.
The emotion McCullough so often bottles up slowly started to show.
But the best was yet to come.
IMG had yet to play Brewster.
***
There was something different about McCullough on Dec. 14.
It wasn’t just another game. Though he said he has nothing but positive regard for Brewster, he wanted to put on a show in front of his friends and family.
“He absolutely came out with a different mind-set,” Cooper said. “A little home cooking.”
IMG lost that game — the championship of the Brewster Invitational — 96-86 in overtime, but McCullough dropped 26 points.
That was when he became fully comfortable as IMG’s No. 1 option.
“After we went to Brewster, it started from that game,” McCullough said. “From then on.”
While McCullough met his old teammates in the locker room, he also showed his IMG teammates his old stomping grounds — the campus, his dorm, “where the parties happen.”
McCullough said it was strange going back and playing in front of those same fans and friends who used to watch him all the time. They were cheering for him, which was comforting, but the occasion was certainly bittersweet.
Nostalgia mixed with the acceptance of moving on.
“I miss being there,” McCullough said, “but I think IMG’s a better place for me.”
***
McCullough’s parents never visited him at IMG. The completely different lifestyle he grew to love only lasted close to five months. Now it’s onward to Syracuse. Another change in scenery.
With Jerami Grant and C.J. Fair gone, McCullough will be expected to contribute in the frontcourt right away.
That’s something his future point guard Kaleb Joseph believes McCullough is fully capable of doing. Joseph said McCullough’s game is somewhat of a mixture of the two players he’s replacing.
Fair’s silky mid-range touch and Grant’s innate athleticism.
“He is long as f*ck,” Joseph said.
That length is perfect for Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. In fact, McCullough’s skill set is reminiscent of that of Hakim Warrick, whose signature block against Kansas led to the program’s only national championship and is etched in Syracuse folklore.
Though he’ll need to work to perfect the intricacies of the 2-3, McCullough does have experience wreaking havoc in a unique zone.
At IMG he played atop a 1-3-1, motoring around the perimeter and flailing his arms to force steals. Cooper said other teams simply didn’t know what to do. They were so flustered and terrified by the behemoth running their direction that turnovers were inevitable.
“If there was ever anyone designed to play for Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse zone, it’s this kid,” Smith said.
Smith expects McCullough to return for the Brewster alumni game in the future, and said that he is well liked both in the community and by his teammates.
Getting expelled didn’t change that.
For now, though, McCullough’s focused on Syracuse, the next place he has to settle into.
He’s schlepped from the Bronx to Connecticut to New Hampshire to Florida. And now it’s time to move one more time — to the school he’s dreamed of playing for since he was a kid.
Bouncing around is all McCullough has known, so one more stop is nothing he can’t handle.
“You’re not really supposed to do that,” McCullough said with a slight smile, “but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
“You move on from the past.”
Published on April 24, 2014 at 12:45 am
Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass
But on Dec. 14, McCullough entered the room, which he used to call his home, as a visitor. He joked and got dressed with his old teammates, just like he used to.
Though his life changed completely in just one month, McCullough felt like nothing was different at all.
“I came right back and felt like I was still there,” McCullough said. “I had to go to the locker room and show love to them.”
After getting kicked out of Brewster on Nov. 11 for a violation of school rules, he moved from blustery Wolfeboro, N.H., to tropical Bradenton, Fla., to start over at IMG Academy — his third school in as many years. And in just a few weeks, he’ll start over again, this time at Syracuse.
Touted as arguably the program’s best recruit since Carmelo Anthony, McCullough, the No. 15 recruit in the nation according to Scout.com, will look to live up to the hype that’s accompanied him ever since his days playing at Salisbury (Conn.) School.
But when he gets to Syracuse, he’ll continually be asked why he was expelled.
He doesn’t like to talk about that part of his past. It’s simply a part of who he is — like the tattoo commemorating his murdered cousin. Or the birthmark that splotches his right arm. Or his high-flying athleticism.
Just a fragment of an eventful past. A blip he won’t let stop him from getting to where he wants to be.
“There’s going to be a day when the light goes on,” Brewster head coach Jason Smith said, “and people are going to be blown away by what his career could be.”
***
Danielle McCoy, who will graduate from Syracuse in May, couldn’t believe the news.
Her friend who works for SU Athletics told her that McCullough, her cousin, was kicked out of Brewster.
“I’m like, ‘Wow,’” McCoy said, drawing out the last word. “It was just as much of a shock to us as it was to everyone else.”
This wasn’t the same kid she grew up 20 seconds from. The kid she drove to City Island with on a whim, just to get some seafood. The kid who cared so deeply for his three sisters and generally stayed out of trouble in a neighborhood McCoy said is laden with crime.
“We know a lot of people that have been murdered or are in jail,” McCoy said. “He’s definitely had friends that have gone down the wrong path.”
McCullough doesn’t let too many details of his life out. He keeps them close, in a tight circle of friends and family he trusts.
When asked why he was kicked out of Brewster, McCullough simply shook his head.
“I had some trouble off the court. Did something off the court, something I wasn’t supposed to do.
“I don’t put that out.”
When the news first broke, McCullough tweeted that he was accountable for his actions. Since that point, he’s tried to make the expulsion disappear.
“You always hope kids will make positive choices,” Smith said, “but at the same time kids do make poor choices.
“It’s about helping them grow and making them accountable.”
While McCullough has fond memories of Brewster, it too is simply a part of his past. And while he loved seeing his old teammates and felt like he was at home, he knew he was not.
He was with a new team in IMG, and it was time to start over once again.
“He has a very positive outlook on life,” McCoy said. “He understands that not everything goes your way. Because he’s so focused, it allows him to adapt to different changes that happen.
“He is able to take that and transfer it into something great.”
***
When IMG head coach John Mahoney started coaching McCullough, he sensed that McCullough was hesitant to open up. He knew that would come with time, but at first it wasn’t easy.
“Chris was quiet when we first met him,” Mahoney said. “When kids move around a little bit, they kind of get protective.”
So when Mahoney first met McCullough — the 6-foot-9 rangy, fleet-footed prospect everyone was drooling over — he looked him in the eye and delivered a simple message.
“I don’t want anything from you,” Mahoney said. “I just want you to know that.”
Many people were trying to “be boys” with him along with way, Mahoney said, but he ensured McCullough there was none of that at IMG. He didn’t want money or a job down the road from McCullough.
“I think once he understood that, he kind of respected that,” Mahoney said. “We got a little bit closer and he’s been a little bit more comfortable since then.”
When McCullough first arrived at IMG — though he was the team’s most talented player — he didn’t start right away. IMG already had good chemistry, and Mahoney didn’t want McCullough to mess up the team’s mojo.
In his first game, he came off the bench and scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The next game he dropped 20.
Yet even as his numbers swelled, he still came off the bench.
“Before I went there, my coach told me everything had to be earned,” McCullough said. “I told him I’d earn my spot there. I wasn’t even worried about it.”
And eventually, he did. McCullough started his first game against Elev8 two months into the season.
McCullough’s teammate Eric Cooper Jr., who will play for Nevada next year, said it was just a matter of learning the plays. Once he had that squared away, it was showtime.
“We’d run a few plays for him where we’d just give him the ball and get out of the way,” Cooper said. “He’d dunk on somebody, or something like that.”
Mahoney said McCullough missed one practice throughout the year. He reprimanded him just like he would any other player, and that was that. Otherwise McCullough was a pleasure to coach, and the character issues people talked about never surfaced.
As he spent more time at IMG, McCullough rediscovered his element, both on the court and off. The 75-degree weather didn’t hurt. His five-room, four-person condo wasn’t too shabby either. He gradually earned the trust of his teammates and they earned his.
The emotion McCullough so often bottles up slowly started to show.
But the best was yet to come.
IMG had yet to play Brewster.
***
There was something different about McCullough on Dec. 14.
It wasn’t just another game. Though he said he has nothing but positive regard for Brewster, he wanted to put on a show in front of his friends and family.
“He absolutely came out with a different mind-set,” Cooper said. “A little home cooking.”
IMG lost that game — the championship of the Brewster Invitational — 96-86 in overtime, but McCullough dropped 26 points.
That was when he became fully comfortable as IMG’s No. 1 option.
“After we went to Brewster, it started from that game,” McCullough said. “From then on.”
While McCullough met his old teammates in the locker room, he also showed his IMG teammates his old stomping grounds — the campus, his dorm, “where the parties happen.”
McCullough said it was strange going back and playing in front of those same fans and friends who used to watch him all the time. They were cheering for him, which was comforting, but the occasion was certainly bittersweet.
Nostalgia mixed with the acceptance of moving on.
“I miss being there,” McCullough said, “but I think IMG’s a better place for me.”
***
McCullough’s parents never visited him at IMG. The completely different lifestyle he grew to love only lasted close to five months. Now it’s onward to Syracuse. Another change in scenery.
With Jerami Grant and C.J. Fair gone, McCullough will be expected to contribute in the frontcourt right away.
That’s something his future point guard Kaleb Joseph believes McCullough is fully capable of doing. Joseph said McCullough’s game is somewhat of a mixture of the two players he’s replacing.
Fair’s silky mid-range touch and Grant’s innate athleticism.
“He is long as f*ck,” Joseph said.
That length is perfect for Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. In fact, McCullough’s skill set is reminiscent of that of Hakim Warrick, whose signature block against Kansas led to the program’s only national championship and is etched in Syracuse folklore.
Though he’ll need to work to perfect the intricacies of the 2-3, McCullough does have experience wreaking havoc in a unique zone.
At IMG he played atop a 1-3-1, motoring around the perimeter and flailing his arms to force steals. Cooper said other teams simply didn’t know what to do. They were so flustered and terrified by the behemoth running their direction that turnovers were inevitable.
“If there was ever anyone designed to play for Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse zone, it’s this kid,” Smith said.
Smith expects McCullough to return for the Brewster alumni game in the future, and said that he is well liked both in the community and by his teammates.
Getting expelled didn’t change that.
For now, though, McCullough’s focused on Syracuse, the next place he has to settle into.
He’s schlepped from the Bronx to Connecticut to New Hampshire to Florida. And now it’s time to move one more time — to the school he’s dreamed of playing for since he was a kid.
Bouncing around is all McCullough has known, so one more stop is nothing he can’t handle.
“You’re not really supposed to do that,” McCullough said with a slight smile, “but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
“You move on from the past.”
Published on April 24, 2014 at 12:45 am
Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass
BOUNCED OUT: Dayton upsets Syracuse 55-53 in Round of 32 as Ennis’ game-winning attempt rims out
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Minutes removed from walking past a Dayton celebration, C.J. Fair sat in the corner of the Syracuse locker room.
Toes curled. Jersey still on. Head hanging forward, fully concealed by a white towel.
Motionless.
Five minutes passed. Media members uncomfortably watched as Fair sat there. Finally, he removed the veil and offered the faintest of smiles. But his eyes were swollen and he slumped against the wall, devastated by what had just transpired.
This was supposed to be the year. Fair had inched closer and closer to a championship in his four years. Now it was his time to shine, to return glory to a program so accustomed to greatness but with only one championship to its name.
But Syracuse came up two points short. After single-handedly keeping the Orange in the game down the stretch, Tyler Ennis missed a questionable pull-up jumper with eight seconds to go and SU down one, and then the 3 that would have won it. No. 3-seed Syracuse (28-6, 14-4 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 11-seed Dayton (25-10, 10-6 Atlantic 10) 55-53 in the Round of 32 at First Niagara Center on Saturday, as its season came to a premature end.
“They were the better team tonight,” Fair said, rubbing his face and looking downward as he revealed a truth all too clear for the Orange after the game.
Ennis sat 15 feet away from Fair in the adjacent corner, bombarded by media. Just 15 minutes earlier, he nearly kept SU’s season alive with a go-ahead 3-pointer that rimmed out.
The typically quiet Rakeem Christmas was especially soft-spoken, as tears swelled in his eyes. Trevor Cooney kept his head down, two nights after lighting the gym on fire. The usually jovial Michael Gbinije sat in desolation.
“It would have been kind of a miracle season if something like that were to happen,” Ennis said. “Realistically you’re not going to hit every game winner unless you’re Kobe Bryant.”
But Ennis had given Syracuse fans reason for hope.
The superstar freshman already had a 35-foot buzzer beater to his name. Another game-winning layup. A 28-point performance.
Saturday’s game winner would have been the enchilada of them all. And he had already scored 11 points in the final four minutes.
“When it left my hands it looked good,” Ennis said. “Up until I saw it bounce out, I thought it was going to bounce back in.”
Ennis had another chance to push Syracuse ahead after a trap forced Dayton’s Jordan Sibert to step out of bounds with 14 seconds left.
But after swooping toward the basket for layup after layup in the game’s closing minutes, Ennis went away from what had been working.
He pulled up for a jumper from just behind the free-throw line, much to the dismay of SU head coach Jim Boeheim.
“With 13 seconds to go, we wanted to get it to Tyler and drive the ball,” Boeheim said. “We’d just driven the ball for three baskets, and I don’t know why he settled for the jump shot. There was plenty of time. He had space. I’m not sure why.”
Boeheim snarled at Ennis as he walked toward the SU bench.
Moments later, Dyshawn Pierre would miss his second free throw, Christmas would snag the rebound and Ennis — after jetting up the court much like he did at Pittsburgh — would put up a potential game winner.
But the miracle never came.
The ball bounced out, and with it so did Syracuse’s chances at a national title. The miss also ended the collegiate careers of Fair and center Baye Moussa Keita, and possibly Ennis’ and Grant’s, as well.
“You think something good’s going to happen just because it always does,” Cooney said, “but the kid’s human.”
Syracuse started 25-0, lost its touch at the end of the season, then seemed to rediscover it against Western Michigan. Along the way, it grew accustomed to winning close games but that formula failed on the biggest stage.
This time, Syracuse couldn’t survive.
“We had a chance to win,” Ennis said, “and I think we’ve always had a chance to win. I can’t really ask for a better shot.”
Published on March 22, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass
Toes curled. Jersey still on. Head hanging forward, fully concealed by a white towel.
Motionless.
Five minutes passed. Media members uncomfortably watched as Fair sat there. Finally, he removed the veil and offered the faintest of smiles. But his eyes were swollen and he slumped against the wall, devastated by what had just transpired.
This was supposed to be the year. Fair had inched closer and closer to a championship in his four years. Now it was his time to shine, to return glory to a program so accustomed to greatness but with only one championship to its name.
But Syracuse came up two points short. After single-handedly keeping the Orange in the game down the stretch, Tyler Ennis missed a questionable pull-up jumper with eight seconds to go and SU down one, and then the 3 that would have won it. No. 3-seed Syracuse (28-6, 14-4 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 11-seed Dayton (25-10, 10-6 Atlantic 10) 55-53 in the Round of 32 at First Niagara Center on Saturday, as its season came to a premature end.
“They were the better team tonight,” Fair said, rubbing his face and looking downward as he revealed a truth all too clear for the Orange after the game.
Ennis sat 15 feet away from Fair in the adjacent corner, bombarded by media. Just 15 minutes earlier, he nearly kept SU’s season alive with a go-ahead 3-pointer that rimmed out.
The typically quiet Rakeem Christmas was especially soft-spoken, as tears swelled in his eyes. Trevor Cooney kept his head down, two nights after lighting the gym on fire. The usually jovial Michael Gbinije sat in desolation.
“It would have been kind of a miracle season if something like that were to happen,” Ennis said. “Realistically you’re not going to hit every game winner unless you’re Kobe Bryant.”
But Ennis had given Syracuse fans reason for hope.
The superstar freshman already had a 35-foot buzzer beater to his name. Another game-winning layup. A 28-point performance.
Saturday’s game winner would have been the enchilada of them all. And he had already scored 11 points in the final four minutes.
“When it left my hands it looked good,” Ennis said. “Up until I saw it bounce out, I thought it was going to bounce back in.”
Ennis had another chance to push Syracuse ahead after a trap forced Dayton’s Jordan Sibert to step out of bounds with 14 seconds left.
But after swooping toward the basket for layup after layup in the game’s closing minutes, Ennis went away from what had been working.
He pulled up for a jumper from just behind the free-throw line, much to the dismay of SU head coach Jim Boeheim.
“With 13 seconds to go, we wanted to get it to Tyler and drive the ball,” Boeheim said. “We’d just driven the ball for three baskets, and I don’t know why he settled for the jump shot. There was plenty of time. He had space. I’m not sure why.”
Boeheim snarled at Ennis as he walked toward the SU bench.
Moments later, Dyshawn Pierre would miss his second free throw, Christmas would snag the rebound and Ennis — after jetting up the court much like he did at Pittsburgh — would put up a potential game winner.
But the miracle never came.
The ball bounced out, and with it so did Syracuse’s chances at a national title. The miss also ended the collegiate careers of Fair and center Baye Moussa Keita, and possibly Ennis’ and Grant’s, as well.
“You think something good’s going to happen just because it always does,” Cooney said, “but the kid’s human.”
Syracuse started 25-0, lost its touch at the end of the season, then seemed to rediscover it against Western Michigan. Along the way, it grew accustomed to winning close games but that formula failed on the biggest stage.
This time, Syracuse couldn’t survive.
“We had a chance to win,” Ennis said, “and I think we’ve always had a chance to win. I can’t really ask for a better shot.”
Published on March 22, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass
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