Tech's Hewitt Puts RBC Center Incident Behind Him

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.

Both are still apologetic about what transpired on that day.

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.”