Q&A With Scoop Jardine
@Syracuse.Hoops Blog
Thank you for reading the blog! This week, I interviewed former Cuse star Scoop Jardine. We discussed all sorts of things from his childhood growing up in South Philadelphia, to his basketball career at Syracuse, to his success and career today. Enjoy the Q&A and go Cuse!
Q&A with Scoop Jardine
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Q1- You grew up in South Philadelphia, in a pretty rough area and underwent a lot of tragedy. How did that change you as a person and as a basketball player?
SJ- For the positive side, growing up in South Philly was… It was and environment where I knew I had to figure out what I wanted to do quicker than a lot of people my age. Twelve, Thirteen years old, you know, seeing people get killed around me. A lot of my friends going to jail or getting killed. I had to pick my career choice right away at a time where you really don’t necessarily know if you want to do it or not. But basketball became an inner city thing for a lot of young kids like myself at that time. It was in our community and a lot of kids could play. We had this local league in our neighborhood and we all played. So, I feel like growing up in the inner city like Philly, or New York, or Chicago, LA, you have to grow up a little faster than others because of the things you experience on a daily basis. Now negative, the negative effect on it is, you know the chip that you have to have on your shoulder by living there. When I made it out, I was fortunate enough to go to Syracuse University, went to a catholic high school, through the game of basketball and that’s what basketball does for you. But the way we have to be growing up where we were at, you kinda walk around with a chip on your shoulder. People put stigmas on you because they think they know who you are because you come from a place. So there was a lot of that I had to deal with because of where I can from. Now when we are speaking on the phone today I am a kid with two degrees, I played in prolly seven, eight different countries, I played with a lot of NBA players. I have a great job; I’m doing real estate, I’m making good money I have a salary plus commission. I have my own company called Life After Sports, BLMP, where we are marketing and managing athletes. So for me it's everything, where I grew up. It gave me the hunger to want better for myself.
Q2- In highschool you were a star; one of the top recruits in the nation. What was it like being so well known in your city at such a young age?
SJ- Ah man it was great, again, it's a gift and a curse. The gift… you know me I’m a people's person, I love people, I love the attention, I loved how people were supporting me and what I was doing because that made me hungry and want to do more and give more. The curse is: if you don’t know how to handle that success. With everybody knowing you are living in the public eye. You have to be careful what you can do. Everybody knew who I was at the age of 16 years old so I couldn’t live like a normal 16 year old, that's the curse. You know, my friends would be drinkin at the parties, 16, 17 years old things that you do in high school, and that was something I could not do. It also is a gift because you get to learn how to live when you are in the public eye and you gotta live differently and that's what helped me long term.
Q3- So you get to Syracuse and had a pretty rocky freshman year. You had the stress fracture and had to miss a year. What did you learn about yourself and your game during that redshirt year?
SJ- Man, that changed my life. What I mean by that is, it was a year where finally basketball was taken away from me for the first time in my life. Now I don’t have basketball I’m just a regular student, I’m just a regular kid going to Syracuse. What I did was I challenged myself to become a better student in the classroom. I know this might sound crazy, but by me becoming a better student and focusing on my studies and focusing on being on time. Just being mature with what I had to do… bein’ on top of my sh*t. You know how my freshman year was so up and down that Coach Hopkins and myself came up with this plan where we were gonna focus on me never going home to Philly. I was gonna stay in school the whole summer, focus on my game, and focus in the classroom. He sent me to go work out with Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose as I kept to what we agreed about. You know me, what!? I get to go to LA with Westbrook and Derrick Rose? I stayed focused! I’m that type of kid, you have to bet on yourself, I’m that kid. Coach Hopkins, as a great recruiter and coach that he was, he knew that would get me goin’. So that's how we started. I started out as a bet that I would stay in school and stay on top of my stuff. After I win the bet, I just kept doing it. I just kept on focusing on school. This was the year that I redshirted, and that was a great year because I got to get ahead, now today I got two degrees from Syracuse University. I got to focus on school more during my redshirt year and got to focus on just being a better me. My redshirt year was changing everybody's perception of Scoop Jardine.
Q4 -You come back junior year, second year of eligibility, and it was obvious to everyone that your game had improved and you really became a better piece of the team that year. How did you assume that leadership role?
SJ- Everything is from my redshirt year, if that makes any sense. I kind of gained everyone's trust my redshirt year just workin my butt off, just holding myself accountable. Once you do something like that when you’re apart of a team, that trickles down. The role naturally came to measure I was working so hard, I got to be apart of a good team that year. It took me through that season and coach had a lot more trust in me. I showed a commitment in my studies and a commitment to the team even though I wasn't playing. I stayed committed to what was bigger than myself. So going into my junior year it was a perfect time to step into a leader role. We started off 18-0. Then we lost 4 in a row and they were sayin we were point shaving! They hit me with that whole point shaving BS. We lost Wesley Johnson, we lost Andy Rautins, we lost Arinze Onuaku. That year, it was big on me to imitate what was before me; that's when I had seen a great leader in Andy, I see a great leader in Wesley Johnson. We lost to Marquette on a ack court call that year which they robbed us. That took me into my senior season. My 5th, year that's when everything just happened for me I kinda knew everything, I was graduated from college. I had a young team and everybody looked up to me, it was basically my DNA on that team. I feel like that was the best year of my career. Not stat-wise but I ran the program, I was the guy who Boeheim allowed me to have the keys to the car and I ran the program: I made the decisions, everything. We had a good year, went to the Elite Eight, We lost Fab Melo that season. Other than that it was a success for me. Got to play four years, got to start for three years, got to be in college five years, got two degrees, I capitalized on everything college had to offer for me. That’s what I wanted to do.
Q5- Also a Philly native: your cousin Dion [Waiters] joined Cuse with you for two years. What was it like playing with him on Cuse after years of playground ball?
SJ- We all knew that was the plan. I knew myself, Rick [Jackson], Dion, we all came from South Philly. We knew we were going to Syracuse so when Dion got there it was perfect for me. I made life alot easier for him because I already went through what Boeheim was trying to offer. I was able to give him that language being from where we come from, you know, he was able to adapt to it and I feel like that's how he made it in two years. He was gonna make the NBA regardless. But as far as him being able to adapt to what coach wanted from him, I was able to deliver that. By me being where I was at on that team at that time he was able to accept it and deal with that to make him a better player. His first year, if you don’t remember, he was having problems with Boeheim where it was on and off. Then the next year he basically played the same role and he killed it. Everything was just about accepting.
Q6- Speaking of Boeheim, syracuse fans and media aren’t in practice everyday unlike you guys. What is one thing about Jim Boeheim that would surprise Syracuse fans?
SJ- One thing about Jimmy B. that would surprise a Syracuse fan… Syracuse probably know everything about his ass. Everybody knows he digs in his nose. I got something that would surprise Syracuse fans, He is a hell of a businessman.
Q7- So you leave Syracuse in the 1000 point club, 6th in assists, and 5th in all time games played with 140. Which of those statistics is most important to you?
SJ- The assists. My job was always taking care of the people around me. I got to do that at Syracuse. I played with some great guys and some great players. I was able to give them the ball and put us in a position to win. I feel like that's how I always want to be remembered there. I always want to be a guy, you know, who was a leader, who is always gonna show up every game and you know what you are gonna get from them. I wasn't afraid to take the big shots. I wasn’t afraid to make or miss the big shots. That's basically how I wanted my career to be. All of them for sure, but the assists more so, it's huge.
Q8- Who was your favorite person to pass to? Who did you always know that when you passed to them they were gonna knock down a shot?
SJ- I’d give you one year, Andy Rautins was unbelievable. Dion was pretty good too. Butt Andy was unbelievable. That guy could never miss.
Q9- After Syracuse, you continued playing basketball. You mentioned earlier playing in all of those different countries. Describe that experience and what you learned from that.
SJ- I learned how basketball was more of a business than anything. I come from college playing for a top school and playing for my family and you're not getting paid. When I got to play professionally, I got to see more of the business and how much more in tune I was with that. I played the game for other reasons. I fell in love with the business of basketball, I didn't fall in love with playing the game of basketball. I wanted to be apart of the business side.
Q10- Like you said, you have two degrees and now you are on the business side, describe what you are doing with sports management
SJ- What we do is all the branding lifestyle like marketing and the promotions for players. As well as the investment as far as putting them with financial advisors. Makin’ sure they invest in some good because that's one of the biggest things these young athletes are missing. You see a lot of these guys going broke, of course I know a lot of them from when I played ball so it just more so trying to bridge that gap cause I was on the athlete side. I’m also meeting people and building my network so I can get guys to help us. When I say “us” I still put myself as an athlete. I’m constantly out there trying to seek whoever has got experience in business. I call myself a “connecter. You ever heard of “Uncle Wes?’ I’m gonna be a better him, he don’t have any competition right now.
Q11- So you have your sports marketing and managing company. I know that you also work in insurance. Describe that job.
SJ- Yes I’m selling title insurance for real estate I work for Fidelity Commonwealth. I’m workin’ in the city. What we is basically like: big hotels, residential apartments, commercial buildings. They need insured. Everything needs to be insured. I’m the guy to come see.
Q12- I also know you’ve done charity work back home in Philadelphia. What is that like?
SJ- That’s what it's all about for me. It’s about really giving back. Creating more Dion Waiters and Scoop Jardine. What made me really want to get into it was the death of my little brother. He passed away, he was 18 years old. When he passed away it kinda put me in a place where I wanted to give back, I wanted to help kids. I didn’t want no families to go through what me and my family went through. It helped me want to get into the community more. We are also gonna be doing stuff with the Jimmy V. Foundation because my grandma got cancer and my sister. Just constantly trying to give back and raise money for charity. I put myself apart of it.
Q13- For my last questions, as a Syracuse account I have to ask this. What is your favorite memory at Syracuse?
SJ- It would have to be when we beat Villanova in front of the largest on campus crowd ever on big monday. And for me it was personal because we beat Vill-A-Nova! And if anybody knows a kid from Philadelphia, if you beat Villanova, wow.
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That wraps it up for my Interview with Scoop. I learned so much about him and his career and I hope you enjoyed it. Scoop is a role model for all college athletes. He took advantage of everything that he could and took nothing for granted. It’s not often you see former star athletes get two degrees, have a great job in a big city, own a business, on top of doing charity work to better the community. Scoop and I plan to connect and work together in the future. I hope you enjoyed the Q&A special. Leave feedback on my last post @Syracuse.Hoops and follow Scoop on his journey @Scoop__Jardine. Thanks again to Scoop for doing the interview!
Go Cuse!