The news blew in like a cold wind from 7th Avenue into Madison Square Garden. Early in the first half of the Big East Tournament final between Villanova and Creighton, cell phones began to hum around the arena. Tremont Waters, the #36 ranked recruit in the class of 2017 and the top recruit at Georgetown University, was asking for a release from his letter of intent.

The decision was a shot across the bow of a shaky ship of state for head coach John Thompson III, leading some to conclude the decommit led to Thompson's firing a week later.

Born and raised in New Haven, CT, Tremont Waters attended a boarding school in western Connecticut for three seasons. Waters made the varsity at South Kent School as a freshman and by the end of his sophomore season had an early offer from Yale, with five more offers coming in the next week alone. By 2016 he had scored over 1,600 points and had already been ranked among the top 40 nationally in various recruiting profiles for the high school class of 2017. With his AAU career completed and a solid national ranking in place, Waters transferred closer to home and attended Notre Dame HS in West Haven--a step down in competition from South Kent but an opportunity to return to life with his family as the Division I offers came in.

Early interest from Connecticut and Wake Forest fell short as Waters narrowed his choices in the summer of 2016. Staying closer to home at Yale also fell short, though Waters spoke highly of the program there. By the fall, Waters had narrowed his choices to Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, and Georgetown. In two visits to the Waters home, John Thompson III promised a new style of play under Waters, a contrast to the perceived slow-ball of the former Princeton offense. Waters took a second unofficial visit to Georgetown on Oct. 15, four days before a signing ceremony at his high school, and announced his commitment on Oct. 19.

"[Georgetown was] my first visit," he said. "To have me visit Kentucky, Indiana and Kansas after, they had to wait four weeks and they didn't message me a lot. They were just being patient. I was all in after I went back [last week]."

The lack of a true point guard was in evidence during the Hoyas' 2016-17 campaign, posting a 14-18 record. Guards L.J. Peak and Rodney Pryor were shooting guards, and Georgetown could never drive the up-tempo changes Thompson promised without a solid point guard that Waters could provide. The Hoyas dropped eight of nine to end the season, with Marcus Derrickson missing a put back at the basket that saw Georgetown drop its opening round Big East Tournament game to St. John's, 74-73. But even at this low point, no one was expecting Waters to drop the hammer so suddenly.

It was a common belief among many Georgetown fans that Waters' decommitment was an impetus for Thompson's firing. Waters countered that argument in an interview with the New Orleans Times Picayune, saying that "The [Georgetown] coaching staff was on edge about being fired or whatever, and they pretty much talked about that all season. So my parents and I, we kept noticing that they were talking about that."

Georgetown agreed to release Waters from the letter of intent, but hoped that its new coach would have an opportunity to re-recruit him. Patrick Ewing was hired a month later and visited Waters, comparing him to Kemba Walker, but Waters had no further interest. Despite the possibility that schools such as Kansas or Kentucky would reappear in his search, Waters turned his attention to two struggling programs that weren't even on his previous lists: Western Kentucky and Louisiana State.

Will Wade, who had been hired at LSU nine days after Waters' decommit from Georgetown, signed Waters as his first major recruit.

"I was going to be able to run the show [at LSU] and pretty much have the ball in my hands and just run the team," Waters said. "That's the type of player that I am."

Waters ran the team from his debut with the Tigers, scoring 27 points and six assists in a win over Alcorn State, A week later, he earned national attention with 21 points versus Michigan and a career high 39 points against Marquette in the Maui Invitational. Waters' shooting varied considerably from game to game, but he finished the season the team leader in scoring (15.9 ppg) as LSU advanced to the second round of the NIT.

Waters got some help in the 2018-19 season, with Wade signing three of the top 35 recruits in the nation (and spurring an FBI investigation into LSU basketball recruiting), but it was Waters that carried the Tigers to a 28-7 record in 2018-19 and its first appearance in the NCAA round of 16 since 2006. An All-SEC selection, Waters led the team with 15.3 points, 5.8 assists and 2.9 steals per game.

After two seasons, Tremont Waters declared for the NBA Draft. "Waters is a small, compact and strong point guard who has elite level skill and feel for the game," wrote NBA Draft Room.com. "If he was 6-3 he'd be a lottery pick." A second round draft selection in 2019, Waters averaged 3.8 points per game for the Celtics over the following two seasons.