“Anger issues!” one student yelled.
“He can’t fight!” another said.
As the taunts continued, Stott crouched at midcourt to watch Damascus shoot free throws before he was subbed out of the Montgomery County championship game last week.
“Remember, this is all part of the process of you reconfiguring your image,” Coach David Blumenthal told Stott on the sideline. “You’re going to have to just own that things are going to be a little bit tighter for you and the team, and you don’t react.”
Stott’s image as Montgomery County’s breakout star changed in January, when the junior initiated an on-court brawl and received a three-game suspension. Stott has grappled with regretting and learning from his mistake while attempting to lead Churchill to the Maryland 4A championship — even as he has become known across the county for the fight.
“It was just a learning lesson and something I needed,” said Stott, 17. “If that situation never happened, I feel like I wouldn’t have grown in the stages I grew.”
While attending Springdale Preparatory, a boarding school in New Windsor, Md., the previous two years, Stott said students envied basketball players. He expected the same for his first day at Churchill in August.
Stott felt relieved that nobody acknowledged him other than his cousin, Bryce Wilson, a senior on the team.
“People treat me like a regular person,” Stott said. “I don’t think I’m different than anybody else. When people come to you like, ‘Oh, you’re so good at basketball,’ I’m like, ‘You can be the same way.’ ”
Still, Stott became known across the county for basketball after the season began in November. Entering Churchill’s game against Blake on Jan. 31, the Bulldogs were undefeated and in a rare position atop the county’s standings.
That morning started like most game days for Stott. He awoke two hours early from nerves, texted a girl and showered. For the first time in five weeks, Montgomery County was allowing spectators to attend games that night as coronavirus cases decreased.
He watched game film throughout the day and ate a McDonald’s cinnamon roll for lunch at his usual spot, near a staircase at the back of the Potomac school. When school ended, he listened to Drake and Sleepy Hallow on his headphones.
Stott was irritated throughout the game as cramps materialized in his calves. With Churchill about two minutes from a win, an opponent ran into Stott, who said he felt his jaw and dental braces crack as he blacked out.
Churchill grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor as Stott ran with his right fist balled. He swung at the player who shoved him. The opponent punched back.
As Blake players ran off the court and bench to join, a scrum emerged at the bottom of the bleachers. An adult shoved a man onto the floor near midcourt. A group of five coaches and parents pulled Stott away.
BRAWL BREAKS OUT DURING CHURCHILL vs. BLAKE BASKETBALL GAME— ~8:45pm, the game was called off immediately after the fight. Police intervened but it appears no arrests were made. pic.twitter.com/eYJ4nkEGfJ
— MoCo PG News (@MoCoPGNews) February 1, 2022
After school administrators asked spectators to leave, the game ended with the score before the fight — a 54-47 Churchill win. Stott sat in the locker room contemplating his endangered playing future.
He apologized to his teammates, but he felt words couldn’t convey his remorse.
That night, Stott devoured a burrito bowl from Chipotle and stood under hot water in the shower in his Potomac home. The play repeated in his mind as he pondered reacting differently. He was angry — at himself, the player who shoved him and his teammates for remaining on the bench in fear of the ramifications.
When he returned to his phone, dozens of text messages appeared. A video of the fight had circulated on social media. Growing up, Stott was a class clown for attention. Now, receiving validation from his peers was impossible.
Stott wanted to defend himself, but family members and coaches advised him that responding would cause more controversy. He placed his phone in “do not disturb” mode.
Lying awake in bed all night and the next day while suspended from school, Stott recalled a similar experience. In October 2020, Stott said, he had agreed to meet a girl at a movie theater in Germantown, but when he got off the bus five men jumped him. Without a shirt and jacket, Stott ran to a nearby library to call his parents.
Stott said resentment lingered for a few weeks as he attempted to identify the attackers. This time, he vowed to respond with sincerity.
“The more you do, the worse it gets,” Stott said. “I just let it cool down and let it blow off. Since then, nobody’s personally texted me about the Blake situation.”
Stott’s grandfather, Tyrone, usually sees Stott frustrated when people tease his 13-year-old sister, Jordyn, who he said was born with brain damage. Tyrone believes Stott has internalized his problems in recent years, including when two of his childhood friends died in the past six months.
When Stott was a child, Tyrone joked that Stott’s body would grow with his size-12 feet. When Stott sprouted to 6-foot-3 in eighth grade, the gags weren’t humorous.
“He grew really quick, and in the African American culture, it’s hard for a kid that’s 14 years old and 6-foot-3,” Tyrone said. “People look at the size and say, ‘Well, he’s a man,’ not knowing he’s only a kid.”
When Stott watched practice three days after the fight, he fretted about his message to his teammates.
“I know you’re trying to say something, but we’ve got your back,” teammate Isaiah Mbeng told Stott on the court. “You don’t have to say anything.”
While Stott’s teammates recognized him for brightening their days with jokes, others questioned his character. Blumenthal tried to convey Stott’s compassion to Division II and III recruiters. In the hallway, a sophomore leaped backward when he passed Stott and pleaded, “He’s going to hit me.”
When Stott returned against Bethesda-Chevy Chase on Feb. 10, opposing students chanted “Anger issues!” Stott wanted to respond, but he turned to Blumenthal, who smirked and shrugged his shoulders. Stott struggled to settle in as Churchill (21-1) lost.
“He’s got a great three-point shot. He can play around the rim and dunk. He can make highlight blocks,” Blumenthal said of Stott, who averages 13.5 points on 50 percent shooting. “His game speaks volumes, but really the person is completely different.”
In the home bleachers, Stott’s family members were disheartened. They know Stott as the guy who stays home from family Christmas trips to Deep Creek to supervise Jordyn — and as the baby who needed his purple pacifier to fall asleep.
Basketball has long been Stott’s outlet. His first word was “ball,” and he dribbled as a 2-year-old. Now, his personal life and passion are intertwined, which is likely to continue when Churchill hosts Bethesda-Chevy Chase on Wednesday night to qualify for the state quarterfinals.
Before every game, Tyrone texts Stott to calm his thoughts and remind him of the value that has propelled his basketball career.
“Just have fun,” he writes.
