Pitt's victory in the ACC Tournament gives Ishmael Leggett an opportunity to give back to his dad

WASHINGTON D.C. — Detrick Leggett noticed long ago that his son, Ishmael, loved sports. So, he made a point of accompanying him on a journey that led to two basketball scholarships, first at Rhode Island and last year to Pitt.

“Always involved,” Renee Leggett, Ishmael’s mother, said proudly Friday night from her seat above the floor at Capital One Arena during Pitt’s ACC Tournament semifinal game against North Carolina.

“Practices, workouts he was a hands-on dad.”

Until fate dealt him a bad hand Dec. 20, 2016.

????????L’s in the Building!’n @great8ish@Pitt_MBB@CapitalOneArena#a4dpic.twitter.com/L6m7ptsE4d

— Mrz. Renee H.L. (@RAccessorizeByR) March 14, 2024

While driving his son to practice during his freshman year at St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C., Detrick Leggett suffered a major stroke.

The car was involved in a minor accident and nobody was hurt, but the stroke left Detrick paralyzed and unable to speak and led to three surgeries and a six-month stay in the hospital.

But he’s still able to listen, comprehend and answer when he speaks with friends and family — often with a thumbs-up.

So there he was Thursday and Friday, perched in his wheelchair in an end zone box, watching Ishmael and his Pitt teammates chase an ACC championship.

The quest fell short, but not before father and son realized a dream.

It had been two years since Detrick had been to one of his son’s games. That was during the 2021-22 season when Ishmael played for Rhode Island.

“Except for on TV and on his app,” Renee Leggett said. “Ish sends him all the videos.”

Back home and playing in front of his dad, Ishmael was especially locked in and focused. He scored 30 points to lead Pitt’s quarterfinal round victory against Wake Forest, 81-69, Thursday afternoon. His point total was one short of Justin Champagnie’s Pitt record in an ACC Tournament game, set in 2020 against Wake Forest. He also was the first ACC player to come off the bench to score 30 since Virginia Tech’s Zach LeDay did so in 2017.

Leggett and teammate Bub Carrington were named to the all-tournament team.

“He was so proud,” Renee said of Detrick. “That ride home, he kept looking at everything that was on social media. He kept looking at all the photos. His phone was ringing.”

While speaking to reporters after the game, Leggett said the game was special to him far beyond his point total.

“My dad was there,” he said. “That was big for me. He isn’t able to make it to many games. That was a great one for him to see.”

The night was special to Detrick, too, because sports had been such an important part of their lives while Ishmael was growing up. Renee said Detrick was by his son’s side the entire time, coaching and counseling.

”It was amazing. It was something that you dream about,” Renee said. “(Ishmael) dreamed about being able to play in front of his dad and doing great and really showing him that all their hard work when he was small paid off.

“He always said, ‘I want to continue what my dad started.’”