Watertown is the type of place that will leave you restless and bored on the weekend. Hidden in Upstate New York, Watertown can claim only two movie theaters and a handful of fast-food restaurants. Its 30,000 people don’t need any more.

But, for Matt Gorman, Watertown is the biggest two-McDonald’s town in America. It’s where 30,000 people watch his every move and feed off his achievements. It’s the place that made Gorman a legend and overwhelmed him with stress.

In the middle school gym where Gorman and his Watertown High teammates play their games, the townsfolk turn out to watch its star. They’ve watched Gorman carry his basketball team to consecutive 20-win seasons. They’ve also seen him clad in a suit and tie, glued to the bench when he unexpectedly didn’t play.

‘I feel like I have to carry the team and this town a lot of the time,’ Gorman said. ‘But that’s not fair. It can’t be one player.’

For Watertown, it can be when that one player will suit up for Syracuse next year as the unheralded big man among the Orangemen’s three recruits. It’s not often that a local goes to a big stage, especially when that stage is just an hour and a half away.

Gorman took his time deciding on Syracuse, which began recruiting him his sophomore year. He thought long and hard about Maryland, Seton Hall, Western Kentucky and South Carolina before finally committing the beginning of this year.

‘Around that time, all the head coaches had appointments to come up and visit,’ Bob Gorman, Matt’s father, said. ‘We are going to feed everybody the same dinner, casseroles. So my wife goes through all this work to make all the casseroles at the same time.

‘Then, coach (Jim) Boeheim comes first and Matt makes up his mind that he wants to go to Syracuse. We had to throw away all this food because we made it all before Matt made up his mind.’

Though not regarded as a top-100 recruit, Gorman lured suitors because of his long-armed, 6-foot-9 build and his outside-shooting touch. This year, Gorman made 19 of 33 three-pointers, and over his junior and senior seasons, he averaged about 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.

But off the court, Gorman was much quieter. After his junior year, his five closest high school friends graduated. He spent most of his free time shooting hoops, playing video games or reading in his room about his favorite topic – international terrorism, a subject he’s been fascinated with since he was 10 years old.

The pressure of carrying a team that was 22-0 at one point this year weighed heavily on Gorman. There were other things too, like the night his dad made him sit out because he was underperforming academically.

That night, a typical packed house showed up to watch Gorman take on South Jefferson. Instead, it saw a devastated, embarrassed teenager sit on the bench and search the hardwood beneath him in vain for a crack large enough to slip into.

Bob Gorman – who insisted his son attend the game and face the consequences of his actions – looked like he wanted to run out of the gym, too. Instead, he explained to hundreds of friends why Matt wouldn’t be playing.

‘That was the only night of the year I felt sad, like I wanted to be somebody else,’ Matt Gorman said. ‘The rest of the time I just cheered myself up by saying, ‘I’m playing basketball at Syracuse next year.’ But the pressure is always there.’

To alleviate the stress, he started chatting informally with long-time family friend and neighbor Jim Monaco, a psychiatrist.

‘Especially living in a small town, everywhere Matt went everyone wanted to know everything about his recruitment,’ Monaco said. ‘He began to have some stress. I became his confidante, a listening ear. He could give me a call or come down the street and say, ‘I need to talk.’ ‘

Gorman did so about once every three weeks, sharing with Monaco the pressure he felt and updates on the schools recruiting him. But neither Monaco nor anyone immediately close to Gorman recommended a particular school.

‘I tried to stay detached in that it was going to be his reunion 30 years from now,’ Bob Gorman said. ‘So I said, ‘Wherever he goes, I’ll be happy, and I’ll put a bumper sticker on the car.’ ‘

‘My family and friends were good about helping me, but the decision was always mine,’ Gorman said. ‘I took my time and did it right.’

For a while, it looked like going to Syracuse would be wrong. Gorman contemplated escaping the small-town spotlight that he knew would follow him.

But the Orangemen offered too much. The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs could give Gorman everything he needed to put him on a path to fulfilling his dream of joining the Secret Service. Syracuse has the Skytop apartments to provide him the privacy and time for introspection he holds so dear. It has Mike Hopkins, the enthusiastic assistant coach who all but became part of the Gorman family.

‘Hop keeps you laughing,’ Gorman said. ‘He is more of a personal friend than a coach.’

‘I talk to Matt, to all these guys, like a brother,’ Hopkins said. ‘I get wild sometimes. I’ll give them a prank call and say I’m some sportswriter from Mississippi. You want make them feel comfortable.’

Especially when you find a player you want to stick around for a while, which Hopkins thinks he’s done with Gorman.

‘Matt is going to rebound, box out and play defense, and he has great touch for a guy his size,’ Hopkins said. He is an underrated player. People will be surprised. He is really good.’

But what attracted Gorman to Syracuse was that he wouldn’t have to be good right away. At least for a while, he could put off the pressure of carrying a team. The small-town Gorman doesn’t bear the acclaim of Syracuse’s other recruits, Gerry McNamara and McDonald’s All-American Carmelo Anthony.

Knowing he won’t be expected to start, Gorman has hit the weight room in hopes of adding to his 225 pounds. He’s already packed on 10 pounds of muscle since the season ended last month, he said.

‘I’m not going to have huge expectations my freshman year,’ Gorman said. ‘If something goes wrong, I can get back up and try again. It’s great to come in with no pressure. That’s what makes Syracuse great.’

The town also thinks it’s a good decision.

‘Watertown bleeds Orange,’ Monaco said. ‘We were all crying and saying our prayers under our breath that he would go to Syracuse. We really had to bite our tongue before, so when he did say Syracuse, everybody in the community had a huge sigh of relief.’

It could be a little while before Gorman enjoys one of those. He knows that for the next four years, at least those same 30,000 pairs of eyes will be fixed intently on him.

Published on April 2, 2002 at 12:00 pm