SYRACUSE - Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim takes pride in finding diamonds in the rough. At a camp in Indianapolis, it took Hakim Warrick exactly one play to get Boeheim thinking he hit the mother lode.
Naturally, it was a dunk.
"I was sitting two courts away at a workout," Boeheim said. "Usually, you don't even go to workouts, you go to games. I looked over and saw this skinny kid just going up way over the basket and dunking, and I said, `I've got to find out who that is.' I just saw that one play, and he was explosive. I liked him from the beginning."
"He saw something in me," said Warrick, who grew up in Philadelphia and averaged 15.6 points, 13 rebounds and 4.8 blocks to lead Friends Central High School to a league title his senior year. "I'm glad he saw whatever he saw."
Syracuse had only one scholarship to offer and Boeheim was in a bind. The Orange had been trying for three years to land Julius Hodge of New York City. When Hodge committed to North Carolina State, Syracuse had its man, beating out Big East foe Providence - with a little help from Warrick's mother.
"She loved the atmosphere here. She definitely wanted me to wear orange," Warrick said. "It was kind of tough waiting. I didn't want to miss a scholarship at another school. My mom told me to go out there and be patient."
"In the end, we got the right player," Boeheim said. "Sometimes in recruiting things work out for everybody, and it's certainly worked out for us and Hakim."
Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli tried to recruit Warrick but said there wasn't any reciprocal interest.
"We were very aware of him," Martelli said.
As a raw freshman forward, Warrick started 19 games and averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. He blossomed as a sophomore and was named the Big East's most improved player after more than doubling his scoring average (14.8), increasing his rebound average to 8.5 per game, and throwing down 80 dunks.
With his 7-foot arm span, the 6-foot-8 Warrick also posted 44 blocks that season, the last one placing his name in NCAA tournament lore. He swatted away Michael Lee's last-second 3-point attempt to preserve Syracuse's 81-78 triumph over Kansas for the 2003 national championship.
Just the thought of that makes Martelli ponder what might have happened last spring if he had Warrick teaming with backcourt stars Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. Only one rung from the Final Four, the Hawks lost to Oklahoma State, 64-62, in a regional final.
"We would have won the national championship," Martelli said. "God bless the guys we used, but that was the position we were short. He came through our gym and worked out a couple summers ago, and I could just see he had a tremendous work ethic. And his upside, the room for improvement, was startling to me."
Last year, Warrick contributed 19.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game and was a third-team All-American and first-team All-Big East selection in leading the Orange into the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament. He had emerged from Carmelo Anthony's considerable shadow and was a solid star, and that placed him at a crossroads - stay in school for his senior season or enter the NBA draft.
Anthony turned pro after leading Syracuse to the national title as a freshman, and Warrick had to fight the considerable temptation to follow his good friend.
"It was a tough decision, and right up to the day we had to decide it was 50-50," said Warrick, now fifth all-time at Syracuse with 1,958 points. "I really wasn't leaning any way, but when it came to that day I just felt that coming back would be the best decision."
Last summer, Warrick hit the weight room and added 10 pounds of muscle to his lithe frame, boosting his weight to around 220. Despite fighting double and triple teams this year, he is averaging 21.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the 13th-ranked Orange (24-5). Small wonder that Warrick's a finalist for a second straight year for the Naismith, Wooden, and Rupp awards honoring the nation's best players.
"I couldn't ask for a better ending to my career," said Warrick, projected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft. "We've had a really good season. We lost a couple of close games, but I still think we can go out there and play with anybody in the nation.
"Four years ago, if you had asked me if I ever dreamed of doing the things I've accomplished here, I probably would have thought it wasn't possible. This is just great. Hopefully, we've got a couple more games ahead and we'll be cutting down the nets again.
"I was sitting two courts away at a workout," Boeheim said. "Usually, you don't even go to workouts, you go to games. I looked over and saw this skinny kid just going up way over the basket and dunking, and I said, `I've got to find out who that is.' I just saw that one play, and he was explosive. I liked him from the beginning."
"He saw something in me," said Warrick, who grew up in Philadelphia and averaged 15.6 points, 13 rebounds and 4.8 blocks to lead Friends Central High School to a league title his senior year. "I'm glad he saw whatever he saw."
Syracuse had only one scholarship to offer and Boeheim was in a bind. The Orange had been trying for three years to land Julius Hodge of New York City. When Hodge committed to North Carolina State, Syracuse had its man, beating out Big East foe Providence - with a little help from Warrick's mother.
"She loved the atmosphere here. She definitely wanted me to wear orange," Warrick said. "It was kind of tough waiting. I didn't want to miss a scholarship at another school. My mom told me to go out there and be patient."
"In the end, we got the right player," Boeheim said. "Sometimes in recruiting things work out for everybody, and it's certainly worked out for us and Hakim."
Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli tried to recruit Warrick but said there wasn't any reciprocal interest.
"We were very aware of him," Martelli said.
As a raw freshman forward, Warrick started 19 games and averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. He blossomed as a sophomore and was named the Big East's most improved player after more than doubling his scoring average (14.8), increasing his rebound average to 8.5 per game, and throwing down 80 dunks.
With his 7-foot arm span, the 6-foot-8 Warrick also posted 44 blocks that season, the last one placing his name in NCAA tournament lore. He swatted away Michael Lee's last-second 3-point attempt to preserve Syracuse's 81-78 triumph over Kansas for the 2003 national championship.
Just the thought of that makes Martelli ponder what might have happened last spring if he had Warrick teaming with backcourt stars Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. Only one rung from the Final Four, the Hawks lost to Oklahoma State, 64-62, in a regional final.
"We would have won the national championship," Martelli said. "God bless the guys we used, but that was the position we were short. He came through our gym and worked out a couple summers ago, and I could just see he had a tremendous work ethic. And his upside, the room for improvement, was startling to me."
Last year, Warrick contributed 19.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game and was a third-team All-American and first-team All-Big East selection in leading the Orange into the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament. He had emerged from Carmelo Anthony's considerable shadow and was a solid star, and that placed him at a crossroads - stay in school for his senior season or enter the NBA draft.
Anthony turned pro after leading Syracuse to the national title as a freshman, and Warrick had to fight the considerable temptation to follow his good friend.
"It was a tough decision, and right up to the day we had to decide it was 50-50," said Warrick, now fifth all-time at Syracuse with 1,958 points. "I really wasn't leaning any way, but when it came to that day I just felt that coming back would be the best decision."
Last summer, Warrick hit the weight room and added 10 pounds of muscle to his lithe frame, boosting his weight to around 220. Despite fighting double and triple teams this year, he is averaging 21.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the 13th-ranked Orange (24-5). Small wonder that Warrick's a finalist for a second straight year for the Naismith, Wooden, and Rupp awards honoring the nation's best players.
"I couldn't ask for a better ending to my career," said Warrick, projected to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft. "We've had a really good season. We lost a couple of close games, but I still think we can go out there and play with anybody in the nation.
"Four years ago, if you had asked me if I ever dreamed of doing the things I've accomplished here, I probably would have thought it wasn't possible. This is just great. Hopefully, we've got a couple more games ahead and we'll be cutting down the nets again.
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