Cuse fan lives up to vow, gives $175K to charity
Adam Weitsman was having lunch with Jim Boeheim hours before Syracuse‘s upset of the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils on Monday when he looked at the veteran coach and made a prophetic declaration.
“I think you’re going to win tonight,” Weitsman told Boeheim. “He seemed pretty confident.”
And, the philanthropist and business owner told the coach, he had made a promise on social media to donate $150,000 to the Boys & Girls Club if the Orange pulled off the upset.
If the #Syracuse men’s basketball team beats Duke today I’ll donate $150,000 to the local boys and girls clubs! Go Orange! 🍊🙏 pic.twitter.com/foeH6Cxwil
The checks are ready to be delivered.
Weitsman said he called officials with the Boys & Girl Club on Tuesday and made arrangements to deliver $50,000 apiece to three Boys & Girls Clubs in Owego, Binghamton and Syracuse. His buddies reminded him he’d forgotten to mention another club in Endicott, so he added another $25,000 donation for a grand total of $175,000 to charity after his favorite team’s upset of the Blue Devils.
Weisman is a convicted felon who spent nearly a year in prison in 2004 for bank fraud. Since then, he has made a fortune as the owner of Upstate Shredding, a $1 billion scrap metal and recycling company. He reportedly owns a $30 million mansion on Skaneateles Lake in New York.
Unranked Syracuse knocked off No. 1 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday. The Blue Devils were without two starters — Cam Reddish missed the game with an illness, and point guard Tre Jones left with a shoulder sprain and could be out a while.
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Weitsman, who sat behind the Orange’s bench during the win over the Blue Devils, said he received 600 text messages and tweets from Syracuse and Duke fans in the final minutes of the thrilling game. They all wanted to know if he still planned to pay up if the Orange won the game.
Where’d he get the idea? Weitsman said he was working out in his hotel’s gym near Durham, North Carolina, on Monday and reading a story about a Syracuse recruit who had said he’d benefited from the Boys & Girls Club in his hometown.
The story, Weitsman said, reminded him of his youth and the time he spent at his local Boys & Girls Club in upstate New York and the role it played in his life and the lives of the players he’d come to know as a popular supporter of Syracuse basketball.
On a whim, he tweeted the promise.
“A lot of athletes, that was their only place to go,” Weitsman said. “I thought it’d be something cool to do for the local community.”
He said he hopes the individual clubs use the money to create after-school programs and to extend their hours so kids can go to the clubs at night.
Weitsman called Boeheim a “close, personal” friend. He said he hopes Boeheim will come with him next week to deliver the checks to each club.
“The clubs need the money, and they need it now,” Weitsman said.
I’m so happy for Coach, happy for the team and most of all happy for the local Boys and Girls Clubs who will get the $150,000 donation in honor of this epic #Syracuse win. Love our 🍊! pic.twitter.com/Wsnvvyi2Qs
The businessman admits he would not have made the donation when he was younger. But he said he’s now a different person who hopes his effort inspires others.
“When I was younger, I was pretty selfish,” Weitsman said. “I just want to be a different man than I was when I was young. Hopefully, [my donation] spurs other people to do the same.”