So Kyle Filipowski’s in the news.
The short version is that Kyle Filipowski’s the victim in an inappropriate relationship, Kyle Filipowski and his fiancée have cut off the Filipowski family, and Kyle Filipowski’s brother has alleged this has something to do with Kyle Filipowski’s fiancée’s Mormonism, which doesn’t seem particularly relevant but does heighten the sensationalism of the story. It’s sad, it’s bad, it sucks for the Filipowski family, and it sucks for the vast majority of Mormons who are not weirdos but consistently have to answer for weirdos’ actions.
The long version:
- Kyle Filipowski is 20 years old. He’s from Orange County, New York but spent his last three years of high school at a boarding school in Massachusetts.
- Filipowski went to boarding school because he was an elite high school basketball player. He spent five years in high school in total. (He entered high school younger than the national norm. We aren’t calling Kyle Filipowski dumb. His fifth year was a basketball thing.)
- From boarding school, Filipowski went to Duke, where he was ACC Rookie of the Year in 2023 and a consensus second team All-American this year.
- Yesterday, he was drafted 32nd overall in the NBA Draft, going to the Utah Jazz. It was a surprise he wasn’t drafted in the first round, and ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported the drop was related to an unusual off-court issue: Filipowski is reportedly estranged from his family due to his relationship (now engagement) to a woman much older than he is. Evidently his interview answers about the matter gave teams pause.
Weird!! Continuing with the summary:
- The woman, Caitlin Hutchison, is at least 25 years old. Some reports have her as old as 28. The first known evidence of her and Filipowski’s relationship is a pair of Instagram posts from May 2022 at Filipowski’s “senior” prom. Filipowski was 18 at the time. Reportedly, Hutchison at one point commented “one year with my favorite person” on the post, although the comment is not there right now (implication being, it was deleted). This would date the start of their relationship to May-ish of 2021, at which point Filipowski would have been 17 and attending boarding school in Massachusetts, away from home, while Hutchison, at the youngest, would have been 23. If you’re wondering: Legal (in Massachusetts, New York, and Alabama—where Hutchison appears to have resided). Creepy.
- Filipowski has three brothers. Two of them are named Daniel and Taylor. Filipowski has a mother. Her name is Becky. Fox Sports’s Kev Mahserejian reports Taylor Filipowski has confirmed that at least one of Hutchison’s parents and at least one Filipowski parent grew up together. Taylor Filipowski apparently referred to Hutchison as his “cousin” once on an Instagram post, but they are not blood relatives.
So that’s good. Continuing with the summary:
- Mahserejian also reports that Taylor Filipowski has confirmed two Twitter accounts appearing to belong to Daniel Filipowski and Becky Filipowski do, in fact, belong to Daniel Filipowski and Becky Filipowski. Why is this important? Because Becky Filipowski’s account said yesterday that Hutchison is six years older than Kyle Filipowski, her fiancé. Meanwhile, Daniel Filipowski’s account said yesterday that Hutchison “forced” Kyle Filipowski to break communication with his family two years ago, sending a “goodbye letter.” The account also accused Hutchison of “Mormon grooming and brainwashing,” but contradicted this by saying the situation was unique.
Again:
The short version is that Kyle Filipowski’s the victim in an inappropriate relationship, Kyle Filipowski and his fiancée have cut off the Filipowski family, and Kyle Filipowski’s brother has alleged this has something to do with Kyle Filipowski’s fiancée’s Mormonism, which doesn’t seem particularly relevant but does heighten the sensationalism of the story. It’s sad, it’s bad, it sucks for the Filipowski family, and it sucks for the vast majority of Mormons who are not weirdos but consistently have to answer for weirdos’ actions.
Pivoting from a serious story to an angle we feel comfortable talking about…
How did this not get out sooner?
Kyle Filipowski has been playing college basketball in the national spotlight for two years. His debut was one of the most notable of the 2022–23 season. He was the subject of a minor throat-punching brouhaha in 2023 and a major court-storming brouhaha in 2024. Thanks to the latter, he may have been the most hated college basketball player in the country this season, playing for what is supposed to be the most hated college basketball team. That team plays in what’s supposed to be the sport’s biggest, nastiest rivalry. Nobody from UNC figured out 17-year-old Kyle Filipowski’s 23-year-old family friend swooped in to lock up his money while he was away from his parents at boarding school?????
Obviously, there are more important things going on here. But since we have no way of dealing with those, let’s address the thing in our domain:
This is the worst sign in history for the health of college basketball.
If the fans don’t care enough to get this story front and center the night of the 2021 Champions Classic, how can we expect the sport to take over SportsCenter in February, hold its own in a world dominated by football, and reclaim the NBA Draft from the French?
Pedophilia is terrible. It is much worse than college basketball apathy. But let’s not get so hung up on this gross and troubling story that we, as a college basketball community, fail to look inward and rediscover our zeal for the game. UNC, I’m sorry to single you out. But this happened on your watch.
Etc.
- No news on Joe Kelly, which isn’t surprising. Hopefully he goes out on a rehab assignment early next week and is back with the Dodgers by the end of next weekend. We shall see.
- Because Devin Carter sat out the Boston College game and Jeff Capel forced Bub Carrington to sit out the entire NIT, Kel’el Ware was the first NIT alum picked in this year’s NBA Draft. Ware. Who will always, to us, be an Oregon Duck.
