ST. LOUIS – A surprised look crossed Jim Boeheim’s face when he heard “Coach!” yelled from the first row of the stands at the Scottrade Center 20 feet from where he stood. He pointed quickly as if to say “I’ll be there in a minute,” and finished posing for pictures with the cluster of Syracuse fans near the court before making his way over to Matthew Moyer, the Class of 2016 Syracuse signee who was in attendance at the Orange’s open practice on Thursday afternoon.

Moyer lives in Columbus, Ohio and made the six and a half hour drive to St. Louis early Thursday morning to watch his future team run through its typical practice routine, but this time with music blaring through the speakers, fans dotting the arena and an NCAA Tournament game against Dayton less than 24 hours away.

When the 68-team field was announced last Sunday, the Moyers figured St. Louis was a feasible distance from home. Moyer’s high school season at the South Kent (Connecticut) School is over and he was home on break. So his mother, Annette, was sold on the trek to spend two days watching her son’s future team practice before facing the seventh-seeded Flyers on Friday at 11:15 a.m. local time.

“To see the school that I’m going to in the Tournament is just a plus,” Moyer said.

Annette gets drowsy at the wheel when she has to drive for more than two hours, she said, so she made her son drive the entire trip. Moyer said the venture started at 5 a.m. before Annette chimed in from two seats away, visibly drained as she leaned back against her chair and interjected with, “4 (a.m.)…four.”

Two days ago, the 6-foot-8 forward had his wisdom teeth removed and he was semi-delirious in the aftermath of the procedure. His cheeks were still slightly bloated on Thursday, and her son’s own drowsiness was Annette’s only concern when handing the wheel over for the entire six and a half hours.

“I mean I was nervous,” she said laughing, before confirming that her son assured her that he’d be able to complete the trip before they took off.

Moyer wore a Syracuse sweatsuit behind the Orange’s bench while heckling Boeheim’s youngest son, Buddy, as he dribbled a ball off his foot. The ball rolled away and the two exchanged laughs. SU equipment manager Dan Shworles walked over and asked Moyer his desired number for next year (three) and shoe size (15).

Sophomore Kaleb Joseph gave Moyer a wink as he ran by during drills. Freshman Tyler Lydon, who played in the same prep school league as Moyer did this year, spoke highly of the forward whose skill set closely resembles his own.

Moyer marveled at Trevor Cooney 3-point-shooting potential during a drill and analyzed Syracuse’s chances this weekend, preparing himself for the only game he’ll be able to see before heading back home.

“I haven’t been to many Tournament games in my life,” Moyer said.

On Thursday morning, Moyer was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Connecticut, which Boeheim congratulated him for after hugging Annette and giving Moyer a firm handshake when he greeted them courtside.

Boeheim then made his way onto the court to oversee his team, one that Moyer may be watching on college basketball’s biggest stage one last time before being a part of it himself.

Published on March 17, 2016 at 2:52 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman