In light of the ongoing legal drama surrounding Syracuse recruit Ashton Broyld, The Fizz has spoken exclusively with a senior captain of Irondequoit High School’s basketball team that beat Broyld’s Rush-Henrietta team the night he allegedly exposed himself. While the player (who asked to remain unnamed) didn’t see the incident first hand, he saw some sort of blowup coming based on how the game was unfolding.

“After the game Ashton was very frustrated. It wasn’t just a single outburst. It was like a 20-minute complete eruption (during the game) where he got four fouls and a technical foul. He freaked out on the court and then freaked out when he got to his seat.”

The Henrietta Post published the picture above with the caption “Broyld throws a tantrum after being ejected out of the game.”

• Listen to the Fizz Exclusive: on Ashton Broyld’s outburst

Time on the bench didn’t help settle Broyle’s anger says the player.

“After the game he wouldn’t shake anyone’s hand.”

In fact, Broyld was just starting to boil over.

‚ÄúFrom what everyone told us, he whipped out his d***, told us all to ‘suck it, f*** you,’ etc. He walked back in, threw a couple trash cans in the tunnel, and then went back to his locker room.‚Äù

Irondequoit’s players were already back in the locker room when Broyld – following the postgame handshake – allegedly exposed himself to the crowd. The Henrietta Post – one of the only outlets that¬†gave any details on the story – reported:

“When the game ended — and Rush-Henrietta lost — Ed Stores (Executive Director of Section V Athletics) and an official with Blue Cross Arena say Broyld walked out of the locker room towards the court and in view of the stands. At that point — according to Stores and the arena official — Broyld did ‘inappropriate things to the Irondequoit crowd’ and ‘did things he shouldn’t have done.’ Officials say it involved hand gestures and some other actions.”

It’s truly amazing there wasn’t ever a more clarified account (or video that surfaced) of what actually took place. Every TV camera was already shut off? No quotes from fans who were there? It was the New York Football Player of the Year in a state playoff game in Rochester’s largest facility who had signed with the state’s premier program just a month earlier. Not exactly a tree falling in the woods.

Other news reports stated he “kicked over a water cooler following his team‚Äôs loss, then made an obscene gesture and comment to opposing fans who were taunting him.” Irondequoit fans complained to a police officer at the arena. Broyld was suspended from school for a week and publicly apologized for the incident, although didn’t get into specifics. Broyld’s legal team has denied he actually whipped it out,¬†‚ÄúMy client does not admit to exposure or to a crime being done.‚Äù However, an inappropriate gesture was clearly committed and eyewitnesses say it was indeed frontal exposure.

By all accounts, Broyld is a great kid, so why the explosion?

“We have a really big rivalrly with Rush-Henrietta. Our varsity football teams (which Broyld played on) were undefeated in the state qualifier and they won that game.”

The player also told The Fizz this wasn’t the first time Broyld’s on-field behavior has been less than ideal.

“He was just really, really douche baggy throughout his tenure, especially this year. There’s just some bad blood between him and us. We were the only team to beat him from Rochester this year. That brooding just continued to get his anger to go and go and he just couldn’t stop being a d*** after a while.”

Anyone who’s ever played sports had a moment they’re not proud of in the heat of competition. Likely not to the extent that Broyld did, but it begs the question Рis Ashton Broyld a bad guy? Did Doug Marrone have one slip through the cracks this recruiting class in his strive to get all high character commits?

“I would never say he’s actually a bad guy. It obviously comes out more when you’re the State Player of the Year in football. The press is always going to exploit the bad part of your character. I have a lot of friends at Rush, and I know a couple of people on the basketball and football teams and they say overall he’s a good teammate. He just gets really competitive and that often comes out in a negative way towards opposing teams and opposing players, the crowd, referees, etc.”

Rush-Henrietta Athletic Director Tom Stewart declined to be interviewed for this story, but did say “we’ve handled the situation internally.”

“Ashton’s a great kid, he made an error.”

This is something Irondequoit’s captain agrees with.

“I don’t think he’s a bad guy, but I feel like the competition and what comes out makes him out to seem that way.”

No matter what Broyld‚Äôs legal team decides to cop to,¬†it seems highly unlikely he’ll lose his scholarship at SU. If he was at risk, Broyld would‚Äôve lost it already. The Dougie certainly has enough inside knowledge of the situation and we know he doesn‚Äôt play around.

The Fizz spoke with Broyld on National Signing Day and we loved the kid. With Malcolm Cater and Brice Hawkes still fresh on Orange fans‚Äô minds, let’s hope this was just a bad day at the office for Ashton and he’s truly the solid young man we talked to in February. Not another Marrone dismissal waiting to happen.

Posted: Craig Hoffman