A few days before Brandon Triche had season-ending knee surgery in January 2007, he went to Syracuse to watch the Orange’s practice with his AAU coach Mickey Walker.

The downtrodden then-sophomore from nearby Jamesville-DeWitt High School watched the practice at near mute – his collegiate hopes in jeopardy. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim pulled him aside. For 45 minutes they talked one-on-one.

The SU head coach recommended a surgeon. Told Triche he can get stronger, his career is young. The yearlong furlough can be a blessing in disguise. And Syracuse is still interested.

The message resonated. Two years later, the 6-foot-4 Triche has committed to Syracuse.

The senior point guard confirmed his decision Wednesday, opting to forgo planned visits to Connecticut and Georgetown and stay home with the school that never abandoned him after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament.

‘That talk showed they really cared about me, whether I went there or not,’ Triche said. ‘(Boeheim) showed a lot of support.’

Triche, rated a three-star recruit by Scout.com, is the second member of Syracuse’s 2009 recruiting class. He joins small forward James Southerland, who was originally supposed to join Syracuse this fall but opted to re-enroll and spend an extra year at Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep.

Triche’s season-ending injury two years ago sent shockwaves through his recruiting base. Some schools bumped Triche down their pecking order, only rejoining the recruiting fray once Triche won a state title and dominated the AAU circuit.

Other schools like Syracuse never left. Triche took heed and returned the favor.

‘Some schools stopped calling and sending letters,’ Triche said. ‘But Syracuse stayed steady.’

The transition is seamless on multiple levels.

Triche was teammates with Andy Rautins at Jamesville-DeWitt and is friends with Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn, among others. The bond with Flynn was forged when Triche, then a sophomore, and Flynn, a senior, lit up Manley Field House when they played each other at the HoopHall Classic. In the 81-75 Niagara Falls win, Flynn scored 33 points and Triche dropped 31.

It wasn’t the last time Triche made the seven-mile commute to Syracuse – or the last time he played against Flynn.

Triche frequently plays in pick-up games with SU players and has attended several practices and games. Even Boeheim told Triche that – for better or worse – he probably knows more about the Syracuse program than any other school that covets him. Triche has the living-room perspective from his uncle, Howard Triche, who played for Boeheim from 1983-87.

A little foresight played into Triche’s decision too.

‘Jonny Flynn might go to the NBA after next year,’ he said. ‘That leaves an open point guard spot. But even if he doesn’t leave, they might push him to the two and put me at the one. Syracuse being a guard-school was a key.’

Cementing Triche’s choice was Syracuse’s unwavering interest. When Triche’s ligament split as a sophomore – and he played a whole game on a torn ACL – many teams from afar saw red flags.

Triche’s collegiate stock value – planted so perfectly back in eighth grade when he was elevated to the varsity team alongside Rautins – was in limbo. Jamesville-DeWitt head coach Bob McKenney said Connecticut, Georgetown and others lifted their foot off the pedal.

‘A lot of schools said, ‘Ahh, we’d like to see…’ you know, that whole deal,’ McKenney said.

But Triche’s junior year nixed the doubts, and those schools hesitant to phone McKenney jumped back in ‘full board.’ Triche averaged 20.7 points per game, five rebounds, six assists and shot 51 percent from the floor. He captured the high school triple crown – a state title, federation title and Class ‘A’ player of the year honors.

And days after the state championship at an AAU tournament in Pittsburgh, the full-circle sentiment grew. Triche scored 10 points in less than 10 minutes of one game and 27 points in another.

Colgate assistant coach Greg Snyder, who played for and coached with McKenney at Jamesville-DeWitt, sent McKenney a knee-jerk text message from Pittsburgh. Triche was outplaying the top high school guard in the country, Word of God (N.C.) Christian Academy’s John Wall.

‘He was phenomenal,’ Snyder said. ‘He was going against the top-rated point guard in the country and just dominating the kid. That’s the first time I’ve seen him really let go and forget about the knee.’

Through the playoff run and the AAU games, the ACL fog that had blinded Triche from recruiters receded and teams crawled back one-by-one. Syracuse though never pushed Triche to the back burner.

And now it’s official. The resiliency, the proximity and one heart-to-heart chat two years ago have paid off.

‘Having that support meant a lot to him,’ Triche’s AAU coach Walker said. ‘His first thought probably was, ‘This is going to screw me up. What do I do?’

‘That talk with Boeheim meant a lot.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on September 17, 2008 at 12:00 pm