WASHINGTON — Their 6 a.m. workouts became routine. Victor Oladipo and Jerami Grant, along with Grant’s brother, Jerian, would be in the gym early every morning during their time together at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. They shot around, they lifted weights, but most of all, they shared the determination to rise to the top of their games.

Grant and Oladipo will have their first chance since high school to play on the same court when Syracuse and Indiana play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament at 9:45 p.m. on Thursday at the Verizon Center. They played together at DeMatha for two seasons, as well as AAU together on Team Takeover. Before the rest of the nation saw Oladipo become one of the best players in the country, Grant was already witnessing it in those early workouts.

He absorbed everything he saw.

“He definitely was athletic,” Grant said. “I was athletic, too, so I kind of looked up to him, trying to play like him a little bit.”

Grant said he always believed Oladipo would become a standout player in college. Since Oladipo has been at Indiana, though, Grant said he’s molded his game even more to reach a level that’s garnered national exposure and honors.

Oladipo is a first-team, All-American and Sporting News National Player of the Year. He’s also first-team, All-Big Ten and second in the conference in field-goal percentage at 59.4 percent. The 6-foot-5 wing, along with big man Cody Zeller, is largely responsible for the Hoosiers ascending to the top spot in the rankings.

“He always told me to work hard,” Grant said. “We always used to work out early in the morning, just trying to get better, no matter what.”

Those workouts with Oladipo continue to pay off.

Coming out of high school, Grant was named the 39^th best prospect in his class by Scout.com, and was one of 11 players invited to play in the 2012 Jordan Brand Classic.

Now in his freshman season at Syracuse, Grant plays sporadically for Jim Boeheim and the Orange. His athleticism gives Syracuse a spark off of the bench, but he also proved himself during a stint in the starting lineup, including a 14-point performance against Notre Dame on Feb. 4.

Team Takeover coach Keith Stevens said Grant’s rise had a lot do with practicing and playing with Oladipo and brother Jerian, who’s a junior guard at Notre Dame.

“I think Victor and Jerami’s brother, Jerian, being two years older than him, were able to set the bar for Jerami,” Stevens said. “I think that’s what made Jerami the player he is.”

Grant said he and Oladipo are like brothers. He said Oladipo was always at his house in high school. They still talk and text on a regular basis. Grant said as soon as it became official that Syracuse and Indiana would play in the Sweet 16, he texted Oladipo right away.

In the locker room just down the hall at the Verizon Center, Oladipo called Grant his “little brother.” He said they shared those 6 a.m. workouts because they all “wanted to be great.”

Stevens said Oladipo always had great talent, but an even greater desire to get better. He said he had incredible abilities and athleticism. In one game, Stevens said, Jerian fed Oladipo an alley-oop, and Oladipo dunked over a player who fell to the floor in the process.

After the game, that same player was sitting on the curb outside, crying.

All of it left a mark on Grant as he watched Oladipo play hard on every play and every possession. Still, Oladipo deflected the praise.

“He can credit me,” Oladipo said, “but I credit him for actually just buying into it and coming in every day and working on his game and wanting to be the best basketball player he can be.”

Grant knew it from the time they were in high school, working out or hanging out at Grant’s house. He saw it every morning and continued to learn from him.

On Thursday, they can both see how far they’ve come. This time, it won’t be in a gym at DeMatha — it’ll be in the national spotlight of the Sweet 16.

Said Oladipo: “I’m looking forward to playing against him.”

Published on March 27, 2013 at 7:20 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman