On Wednesday morning, Dino Babers spoke publicly for the first time since two of his players were allegedly stabbed by former teammate Naesean Howard on Saturday evening. The first-year SU head coach said defensive back Chauncey Scissum is still in the hospital and he hopes that Scissum will be released later this week, while defensive back Corey Winfield was released on Monday.

In response to an article posted on Syracuse.com Wednesday morning that cited a source saying Babers told the team to not wear any Syracuse gear in public since Howard’s “people” may still be lurking around campus, Babers heavily refuted that.

“The thing about the meeting was correct. Everything else written in the article was incorrect and inaccurate,” Babers said. “I actually told them to put their Syracuse ‘S’ on and wear it proudly around campus.”

Babers confirmed that earlier in the year, Howard approached him in the parking lot adjacent to Manley Field House and started a conversation. The head coach said Howard said, “’Hey, I would like to join the football team,’” to which Babers responded, “’Who are you?’”

Babers then told Howard he had to go through a standard background check for walk-ons in order to be given a shot, but eventually that background check wasn’t satisfactory enough for the new staff to offer Howard a chance to walk on.

“Everybody has a right to change … but patterns are something that you try to stay away from and we just decided as a staff the pattern was too strong,” Babers said. “It’s not a right to be on a football team … it’s a privilege.”

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Witness details alleged stabbing, South Campus party
• Defensive back Corey Winfield out of hospital 2 days after stabbing incident
• Court documents: Naesean Howard stabbed SU football players multiple times

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The Tuesday morning meeting with the team wasn’t prompted by the stabbing, Babers said, and that he holds a meeting at 8 a.m. every Tuesday in the offseason. This one just happened to be the first after Winfield and Scissum were allegedly stabbed and there were no specific safety instructions given based on Saturday evening’s events.

“You can’t live life looking over your shoulder,” Babers said. “I think these young men will be just fine.”

Howard is due back in court at 10 a.m. on Friday. Both players he allegedly stabbed are doing well, Babers said, and when asked about Howard, Babers never mentioned him by name.

“It’s a blessing both of these young men are still with us,” Babers said.

Published on April 20, 2016 at 12:03 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman