Did Syracuse star Frank Howard intentionally try to trip Zion Williamson? He says he didn’t, and the video was inconclusive.
During Duke’s 84-72 win over the Orange in Thursday’ night’s ACC quarterfinal battle, the freshman sensation went up for a dunk and came back down. As Williamson was jogging back on defense, video showed Howard sticking out his foot, appearing to try to trip him up.
Whatever the case may be, Williamson stumbled, but it wasn’t enough to bring down the 6-foot-7, 285-pound superstar.
Howard told the Post-Standard after the game that he has a lot of respect for Williamson and wasn’t intentionally trying to trip him.
“I was just shown the video,” Howard said. “I’m not going to wait four years to get to this position to trip somebody.”
It was fortunate Williamson wasn’t injured on the play. It was his first game back since Feb. 20 suffering a Grade 1 right knee sprain when his Nike sneaker exploded against rival North Carolina.