BATON ROUGE, Louisville Men basketball star Chucky Hepburn was overcome with emotion Thursday night, breaking down in tears after receiving the prestigious Pericous Maxwell Award for Excellence….read more
BATON ROUGE, Louisville Men basketball star Chucky Hepburn was overcome with emotion Thursday night, breaking down in tears after receiving the prestigious Pericous Maxwell Award for Excellence….read more
To opposing big men, however, the sophomore forward can be menacing. He certainly looked the part during Wednesday’s win at N.C. State; and that trend continues today at Notre Dame.
“He’s tough as nails when he has that thing on,” Kelsey said.
That thing is a black protective mask that looks as if it came straight out of Hannibal Lecter’s wardrobe. For others, it brought to mind Tom Hardy’s depiction of Bane in the final movie of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises.” However you slice it, Scott’s toughness cannot be questioned.
“That dude’s a dog,” senior point guard Chucky Hepburn said.
If you’re tuning in to the Cardinals (19-6, 12-2 ACC) vs. the Fighting Irish (11-13, 5-8) and wondering why Scott donned the mask, here’s a quick rundown.
Early in the first half of a Feb. 8 over Miami at the KFC Yum! Center, Scott was battling for a loose ball with Hurricanes forward Brandon Johnson when his face got smashed into Denny Crum Court.
When play stopped at the 11:13 mark, Scott walked to the Louisville bench with blood dripping from his mouth. He did not return to the game.
“I couldn’t even look at it,” Hepburn said. “I just saw him walking back and saw blood; I don’t do well with blood.”
Kelsey said afterward that Scott made an emergency trip to the dentist. He had both of his front teeth knocked out.
“They had to go in and, like, extract pieces,” the coach said. “I made the point a couple weeks ago, when you guys asked me about James and his personality: He’s such a wonderful kid, but I said, ‘Man, he’d rather have six root canals than come into a press conference and talk to you guys.’ I think he took that literally.”
After Wednesday’s win, Kelsey told reporters that Scott was also dealing with facial fractures.
“They had to pull bone fragments out of his upper lip,” he said. “I mean, it was a mess; and he was texting me from the dentist chair, saying, ‘I’ll be ready for practice tomorrow; and I’m playing on Wednesday.'”
