ALL-AMERICA, 1997

In the early 1990's, most basketball fans outside of Washington knew little about Victor Page. Today, he is better known as a tragic figure in college basketball.

Behind the numbers was a difficult childhood. Page lived with 11 relatives in one of Anacostia's most crime ridden neighborhoods. Both parents died tragically in his youth, and schools offered little protection against a hostile world literally right outside his front door. The neighborhood "was gunfire, drugs, women," Page said in a 2006 New York Times feature, titled "Without Bad Luck, He'd Have No Luck at All."

Basketball was his escape, and Page established himself as one of the best prospects in the nation, but with setbacks that followed him throughout his young life. At 15, Page enrolled at Oxon Hill HS, but was expelled as a sophomore following a fight. He found his way back to the District at McKinley Tech, averaging 31 points a game in leading McKinley Tech to the DCIAA championship, and was named first team All-Met and DC Player of the Year.

Without a qualifying SAT score, Page quit school shortly after his senior season, spending the next two years trying to qualify at two different prep schools until he was signed by Georgetown in the summer of 1995. By the age of 20, Page had been arrested at least twice, and served 90 days in a halfway house when he no-showed a sentencing hearing on a misdemeanor drug possession charge. In both cases, Page failed to disclose the offenses to Georgetown when he was admitted, according to the Washington Post.

On any other team, Victor Page would have been the star, except Page had a teammate with even more star power in Allen Iverson. And while Iverson scorched the Georgetown record books in the Hoyas' 29-8 season, Page was not far behind. He opened with 71 points in his first three games, including 25 points against Georgia Tech in the pre-season NIT. Starting 33 of 37 games, Page averaged 12.5 points a game for the #4 ranked Hoyas, none bigger than in the Big East semifinal on March 8, 1996.

The 1996 Big East semifinals featured three teams in the top nine in the nation. Georgetown had routed #6-ranked Villanova 106-68 a week earlier at USAir Arena, but in the semifinal the Wildcats had succeeded in limiting Iverson with foul trouble and forcing the Hoyas into a tenuous situation on each offensive possession. With its frontcourt of Othella Harrington, Jerome Williams, and Boubacar Aw held to a combined 1 for 8 shooting, Page took over. Utilizing a slowdown offense and a quick strike towards the end of the shot clock, Page was able to neutralize the Villanova defenses and keep Georgetown ahead.

The strategy wouldn't have worked without Page's accuracy--12 for 19 from the field, a season high 34 points and nine rebounds paced Georgetown to a 84-76 victory. The next evening, using Iverson as the quick strike target, the strategy failed as Iverson shot 4 for 15 and Georgetown lost an 11 point lead to Connecticut in the final, 75-74. Page was named the Big East Tournament MVP, only the second MVP from a non-title team.

Page's individual statistics in 1997 are without peer. He led the team in scoring in 27 of 30 games, 21 of those with 20 or more points. By the end of January he had nine 25+ scoring games, but by the halfway point of the season the Hoyas had sagged from an 8-1 start to 12-7 and a 5-6 mark in conference play, Page led the Hoyas to win seven of its last eight, almost exclusively by his hand: 26 in back to back games against Syracuse and Providence, 20 at Pitt, 29 at Memphis, 25 versus Rutgers. His 28 points on the road at a hostile Providence Civic Center won the Hoyas a Big East divisional crown and a #2 seed in the conference tournament. Page scored 31 in the opener versus Miami, but was held to 18 in the semifinals, losing to Boston College. Page shot poorly in his final game, a 7 for 22 effort against Charlotte in a first round NCAA loss.

Page finished with a 22.7 per game average for the Hoyas, fourth best all time in a season. An All-Big East selection, he was then named to the All-America honorable mention list.

Prior to the 1997 Big East tournament, talk surfaced that Page might follow Iverson to the NBA. He dismissed such talk, once joking that he was too busy at Georgetown "to even spell NBA". A week later, however, coach John Thompson announced Page's intention to leave school and enter the draft. "Victor does not have the academic inclination to be, at this point in his life, pursuing his education," said Thompson.

Despite his considerable talent, Page was undrafted. He was close to making the Chicago Bulls as a free agent in 1997 but stayed out late, overslept a morning practice, and was cut on the spot. A year later, he lied about an injury suffered in a bar fight and was cut by the Minnesota Timberwolves just before the start of the 1998-99 season. Page spent four seasons in the CBA, and was the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, yet is also remembered as having attacked an opposing player with a broom during one of the games. Two seasons in Europe and a brief tour with a traveling streetball team followed. He was out of the game by the age of 28.

With his playing career behind him, Page drifted into a life of crime. In 2003, he was shot in the face during a drive-by shooting in his Barry Farm neighborhood; Page lost his right eye in the process but chose not to identify the gunman. A weapons charge in 2004 was reduced to probation, a theft case in 2005 was dismissed. By 2010, according to the Washington Times, Page had been arrested 33 times in the previous three years, with offenses ranging from misdemeanor drug possession to fourth degree burglary, but saw minimal jail time.

In 2013, Page pled guilty to second degree assault in a domestic violence case in Prince George's County, Maryland. In a disturbing charging statement, officials said Page "pulled the victim's hair, tearing it from the scalp. He then dragged her to the bathroom, throwing her into the tub and running hot water on her while punching the victim repeatedly in the face. The suspect then ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and stabbed the victim on her right hand and right thigh. The victim then ran outside as the suspect chased her with the knife and stated he was going to kill her." A 10 year sentence was later reduced to four years, and Page was released in 2017.

Despite Page's assertions that he had finally turned the corner, he returned to jail two years later, pleading guilty to first-degree assault and a fourth-degree attempted sexual assault of his girlfriend's 17 year old daughter, captured on videotape and released to TMZ.com, which led prosecutors to seek the maximum punishment. As part of a plea deal, Page agreed to a 20 year jail sentence.

Victor Page is not scheduled to be released from prison until 2039, four decades removed from a brief, shining moment in an otherwise troubled life.