Born on February 9, 1974 and raised in Greece, New York by his mother, Vanessa, he grew up with his younger brother, "Kippy" a mile from his alma mater, Greece Athena High School.After he led that school to several championships, he went on to become the highest-scoring, multi-record holding teammate of Syracuse University's Mens Basketball history during his time there from 1993-1996, while majoring in sociology. And before assisting in leading them to the 1996 NCAA Championship game (which they lost), he amassed several record-breaking statistics, yet to be threatened by S.U. players since his 1996 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.