Isaiah Wong’s basketball career is a family affair, starting with his mother, LaChelle

It happened without warning.

The computer screen LaChelle Wong was staring at grew fuzzy.

More than a decade before the mother of four watched her son, Isaiah, help Miami reach the Elite Eight and Final Four, LaChelle Wong wondered if she would ever see again.

“I remember going to my supervisor and telling her I couldn’t see,” LaChelle said from her home in Florida. “She was like, ‘I’m going to call 911. You might be having a stroke.’

“I said, ‘No, I have to pick up my kids from school,’” LaChelle continued with a laugh. “I said, ‘But don’t worry. I’ll go to the hospital after that.’”

On Mother’s Day, the Inquirer highlights single mothers who have raised noteworthy athletes in the Philadelphia area, revealing the sacrifices they made, the odds they overcame, and the lessons they taught along the way.

LaChelle Wong, now 47, was about 35 years old when an autoimmune condition caused inflammation in her corneas while she worked in a high-stress environment as a project manager overseeing engineers in New Jersey.

“I was staring at a screen, and then I couldn’t see it anymore,” she said. “At first it was just all blurry. Then it kept getting worse.”

She laughs about it now, but LaChelle, who had her oldest son, Brian, when she was 16, was serious about picking her boys up from school. And she did.

“I don’t know how,” she said. “But you put yourself second all the time. I didn’t know anything else but make sure they’re OK first and then I’ll go check [on me].”

» READ MORE: Former Bonner-Prendergast star Isaiah Wong’s hard work has led him to the NCAA Tournament

Ultimately, she saw shapes and colors well enough to avoid a car accident.

Eventually she reached Brian, who was enrolled in community college. He drove her to pick up his siblings. Then she went to the hospital.

Her vision remained blurry for about six months. Sometimes, she said, it went completely black. Occasionally, it still happens, and doctors have yet to determine why.

She has, however, found clarity elsewhere.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” she said, adding that it was the last day she worked in the corporate world. “I was able to dedicate the time to traveling the country with Isaiah.”

LaChelle attended her son’s every AAU tournament. She also made every game when he was in high school, where Isaiah dominated Catholic League play, earning league MVP as a junior and senior at Bonner-Prendergast.

In 2018, Isaiah waited for his mother’s birthday to release his video commitment to Miami.

“This makes me feel like I was blessed to have a mom like this that always comes around and will always be there for me in my ups and downs,” Wong said back then. “Some other parents of kids who play basketball aren’t there supporting them like that.”

LaChelle was one of those kids.

She went to a vocational-technical high school in Piscataway, N.J., where she excelled at her first love, softball, and was a shooter on the basketball team.

“The type of parent I am is the type of parent I needed growing up,” she said, “because I definitely had potential.”

To that end, she made “legal documents” that her boys signed starting in elementary school. Expectations and consequences were spelled out. Performance in school always was the top priority.

These days, though, you had also better bring your A-game during family game nights.

“To this day, they can’t beat me in Topgolf,” LaChelle said. “We are definitely a competitive family.”

When it comes to Isaiah’s basketball career, however, it’s been more about collaboration.

The family spends time in Florida since Isaiah lives in Miami. LaChelle also started a business around her experience in taxes and mortgages so that her boys have something to own.

Terrence, 27, studied physical therapy and exercise science in college and has helped Isaiah with workouts, drills, and injury prevention.

At times they would all be in the gym either rebounding for, guarding, or motivating Isaiah, including the youngest, Elijah, who also went to Bonner-Prendie.

The group effort may have helped.

Isaiah was named ACC player of the year last season and led the Hurricanes to the Final Four.

He declared for the NBA draft last month and finished fourth on Miami’s all-time scoring list (1,866). He’s in California, preparing for the draft.

“He’s doing great things for himself,” Terrence said. “He has only scratched the surface of what he can do.”

» READ MORE: Five area college basketball standouts invited to NBA draft combine

Watching their mother claw through tough times, Terrence added, has taught them valuable lessons.

“Just because something is hard doesn’t give you the right to give up,” he said.

That seems an apt description of LaChelle’s journey.

“There were days where you had to figure out: ‘OK, am I going food shopping or am I putting gas in my car so I can drive [Isaiah] to this tournament?’” LaChelle said.

Later, she added: “I always say, statistically speaking, I’m not supposed to be here. But I’m a tough cookie. I’m hardheaded and I don’t like taking no for an answer.”

That toughness has helped her navigate a basketball world often dominated by men.

“I try to tell people that you can’t tell what I’m capable of by looking at me,” she said. “But when I do walk into a room, I act as if I own it. I feel like my kids have a quiet confidence about them … because of that.”

It is unclear where Isaiah Wong will go in the draft on June 22. Wherever he lands, his mother said, the plan is for family to be nearby.

“I wouldn’t change that for the world because my relationship with my boys is everything that I have and nobody can take that from me,” she said.

As for Mother’s Day, there’s only one gift she’s interested in.

“Their success is really all I need,” she said. “And to be here to witness it has been my reward.”