A contract Isaiah Wong signed with his mother is a key to Miami freshman’s success
Isaiah Wong signed his first contract in elementary school.
It was a contract his mother, LaChelle, drew up to encourage her four sons to give their best in school, in athletics, and in life. When they were teenagers, those goals were listed on a white board and displayed on a prominent wall in their Piscataway, New Jersey, home.
Wong took those early lessons to heart, and they continue to guide him as he has a breakout freshman season with the University of Miami Hurricanes basketball team. He and his mother made a list of goals before he got to campus, and one by one he has been checking them off.
Score two points in a college game? Check. Make a big play? Check. Start a game? Check. Score 10 points? Check. Score 20 points? Check.
Earn ACC Freshman of the Week? That one just happened Monday after Wong averaged 17 points in back-to-back wins over Boston College and Wake Forest. Last week, he scored 23 points on the road against No. 8 Florida State and 21 against Boston College, becoming the first UM freshman with consecutive 20-point games since Marlon Barnes in 2001.
“I always tried to reach the goals on that board, like in high school I wrote that I wanted to make McDonald’s All-American, win MVP of our league, make the Allen Iverson Classic,” Wong said Tuesday, before the team hit the road to play Virginia Tech at 9 p.m. Wednesday. “My Mom and I still have goals to this day. Setting goals is important to me because it gives me something to reach for, and each time you reach one, even a little one, it makes you feel better.”
Wong’s freshman season did not start out so well. He went 1 for 6 for two points in his home college debut against then-No.5 Louisville. He played three minutes against Clemson, scored two points in eight minutes at home against No. 2 Duke, and went 1 for 6 for three points at Louisville. He scored two points against Pitt, and went scoreless in back-to-back games against N.C. State and FSU.
Looking back, he and coach Jim Larranaga said Wong was struggling with his confidence, confused on defense, and overthinking things on offense. Then, starting point guard Chris Lykes got injured, and Wong was forced to step in and play extended minutes. He got more comfortable with each minute he played, and was so impressive that he stayed in the starting lineup with Lykes came back two games ago.
“Early on, I was turning the ball over and getting more stressed than I should have been,” said Wong.
Larranaga added: “Isaiah mostly had to learn about defense. He always practiced very hard, but he wasn’t confident making decisions. We all knew what he was capable of because we saw him play in high school. We knew at some point he’d be able to do that for us. It’s February, and he’s playing with a lot of confidence. The last 10 games he is dramatically improved.”
Wong’s father, Terrence, played basketball and his paternal great-grandfather is Chinese. He chose Miami over Villanova, Clemson, UConn, Pitt, Temple, LaSalle, Xavier and St. Joe’s. UM assistant coach Adam Fisher was instrumental in his recruiting him out of Monsignor Bonner (Pa.) high school. LaChelle Wong was so eager to see her son play that she moved to South Florida with Isaiah’s 16-year-old brother, Elijah, a talented soccer player.
His oldest brother Brian, 28, is a civil engineer. His brother Terrence, 24, is getting his degree in Exercise Science.
“All of us brothers have succeeded because of my Mom forcing us to set goals,” Wong said. “I definitely would not be where I am without her.”