WRALSportsFan
Tech's Hewitt Puts RBC Center Incident Behind Him
By J. Mike Blake Jan 21, 2008
The most recent trip to the RBC Center for Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt ended with him trading words with N.C. State student John Elias.
After a timeout during the Wolfpack’s 87-78 win in 2006, Elias, like several other students sitting behind the visiting bench, heckled Yellow Jackets senior center Theodis Tarver.
Tarver was targeted because his eligibility had been restored by an appeals committee the day before the game.
With a minute left and a State win in hand, Elias shouted a sharp comment toward Tarver. Hewitt turned to Elias and fired back at him.
According to Elias, Hewitt used an obscenity in doing so and the outburst was reported in the student newspaper, The Technician, and also caught some national attention.
It was later revealed that Tarver had a much more sensitive scenario than just missing class or bad test grades. Tarver’s mother had died the previous May, and the grief led to his doing poorly in school.
Hence, why Hewitt was sensitive to the berating of his player.
Hewitt said Monday that he and Elias had contact shortly after the incident.
"I exchanged e-mails with the young man,” Hewitt said. “[He’s] a wonderful student.”
Both are still apologetic about what transpired on that day.
“It was unfortunate,” Elias said. “But it’s in the past. I just want to get that behind me.”
On Monday, both expressed their desire to put the past behind with Tech set to play again in Raleigh Wednesday night..
“That’s over with now,” Hewitt said. “[It’s] fine. [It’s] over with.”
Hewitt even had glowing words to say about the RBC crowd as he watched the Miami game on television Saturday night.
“N.C. State, they’ve always done a great job in terms of their fans circling around their players and giving them a little extra enthusiasm,” Hewitt said.
“I watched the end of the game [on Saturday] and obviously those guys made great plays for N.C. State but that crowd was outstanding.”
Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Most Recent Comments
"So will you defend the UNC student who shouted the ghetto comment as "ignorant of the facts" and that it was "her job to heckle" and that "it was just unfortunate?""
If you think yelling "Go back to the Ghetto!" has anything to do with being ignorant of the facts, you probably shouldn't be using a computer. The State kid made fun of bad grades, and was ignorant about the REASONS behind the bad grades. The girl that yelled that showed her true racist colors. The two don't even compare. They are on completely different levels.
"That having been said, I think this particular story by WRAL about Hewitt and the State kid is a non-issue and it really is a stretch if that's all that can be written about this week's game."
It is a non-issue because it has been resolved. Hewitt and the State kid talked to each other about it and came to grips. I believe the State kid was truly sorry about what he did.
Can you say the same for that Carolina girl? Didn't think so.
I am not a UNC fan, but I have to say:
TBK wrote:
"That student was probablt just ignorant of the facts surrounding Tarver, and was just heckling him over having bad grade. It's the students' job to heckle. This time, it was just unfortunate."
So will you defend the UNC student who shouted the ghetto comment as "ignorant of the facts" and that it was "her job to heckle" and that "it was just unfortunate?"
The incident at UNC HAS been made a huge deal of, both around here and nationally. By the same token, it was ONE student who just happened to be caught by an open mike. Please don't pretend that no ther fan base would not be guilty of such if a mike was randomly placed in there.
That having been said, I think this particular story by WRAL about Hewitt and the State kid is a non-issue and it really is a stretch if that's all that can be written about this week's game.
Okay TBK, I'll give you that it is newsworthy to those dying to prove that UNC fans are low class. But to the public at large, it's just one fan being a poor sport and unfortunately, making a racist remark.
"Which brings me back to my original point. Some girl upset over a basketball game saying "go back to the ghetto" is not newsworthy, unusual, or unique to a UNC crowd."
Not newsworthy? In this day and age, stuff like that (especially at a big-time university like Carolina) is quite newsworthy. It is not unique to a UNC crowd, either (we agree on that 100%). But the difference is, many Carolina fans think of themselves as too classy for that kind of remark. They would expect it somewhere like State. That's what makes it a big issue. It's like a preacher getting busted for soliciting prostitution. Men everywhere solicit prostitution every day of the week. But it is newsworthy when a preacher does it.
Can't believe I just compared Carolina fans to preachers. UGH! ;)
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