This could be sort of awkward ...
When Paul Hewitt brings his Georgia Tech team to Raleigh on Wednesday night, it will be the first time back at the RBC Center since he had a bit of a tete-a-tete with a State student. It came in the waning moments of a Wolfpack win back in January of 2006 (Tech didn't play at State last year. Thanks, expansion).
John Elias, a State student had been heckling Yellow Jackets big man Theodis Tarver, who had been declared academically ineligible earlier in the season.
In this article in the State student newspaper, The Technician, Elias admitted saying this line that finally got under Hewitt's skin.
"During the last timeout, I yelled 'Hey Paul, do you think Tarver even understood those drawings?' "
The game was already decided, so maybe Hewitt wasn't as focused on the court as he normally would be. Or maybe it was because he knew that Tarver had lost his mother the previous summer and that Tarver's grief played a role in his academic struggles. Whatever the case, here was Hewitt's response, according to Elias.
"That's when coach Hewitt turned around, pointed at me and said, "Hey F*** you. That's just classless."
Zing.
To his credit Hewitt apologized several times after the game and admitted he should have ignored the heckling, even if was pretty tasteless stuff. And maybe, in some way, his willingness to stand up for a player helped Hewitt in the locker room.
But you never want to me known as a coach with rabbit ears, to admit that you actually listen to whatever verbal abuse the crowd spews forth. Once you do, you're giving the crowd even more incentive to keep heckling. Just ask Gary Williams how his chats with Duke fans over the years have gone.
Tarver's long since departed Tech, but the Yellow Jackets do have Lewis Clinch, who was suspended last season for an honor code violation. And if State fans elect to go easy on the players, they could always just pick on Hewitt. Certainly the Atlanta media already is, as evidenced by this column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Hard to believe Hewitt had the Yellow Jackets in the NCAA title game just four seasons ago.
Comments (2)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Why is this even a story? This was covered ad naseum last year and I am sure Coach Hewitt and Mr. Elias both regret some of the things that were said. I have yet to see any press coverage of a certain young "lady's" comments after Maryland's victory over UNC. Nice double standard Mr. Young.
Posted on January 22, 2008 2:15 PM
David,
Wow, how's that for timing? I'd just put up a post about the young lady's comment after the UNC-Maryland game and then came to the blog to see your accusation of a double-standard. At the very least, I'm responsive!
But seriously, the reason I mentioned the Hewitt incident was because a) this will be the first time he has been back to the RBC Center since b) I would imagine State students are aware of what happened and may be on Hewitt's case more than ever c) it's intriguing to me when a coach breaks down the invisible barrier and actually interacts with a fan and d) Hewitt's job status is a bit iffy these days, so he may be even more sensitive than he was last time.
Posted on January 22, 2008 2:26 PM