WEBVTT
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Welcome back to another episode of the student athlete sessions.
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Today we're joined by former Case Western men's basketball player Umar Rasheed.
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He is currently overseas in his second pro season.
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Uh you know, already has a decorated overseas pro career and international career, which we will get into.
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Um, but Omar, welcome to the program.
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I appreciate you for having me.
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I'm excited.
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Yeah, I I gave a little preview here, but we always like to start out by having the guests just share where they are, what's going on for you today, and and where are you right now?
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Yeah, so currently, like you mentioned, I'm in my second season overseas.
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Right now, I'm in Huelva, Spain, which is in the southwest of Spain.
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Uh, it's beautiful weather here, it's great.
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Um, but yeah, it's my second season last year.
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I was in Ireland, so uh I was getting a little bit of a step up here in Spain.
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Like I'm still at a lower division within Spain, but the basketball here is just so big and it's so popular.
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So the local talent is really, really good.
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So I feel like I'm in a good spot as far as the trajectory for my future career.
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But yeah, second year in Spain, we just had our second game this past week.
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I got here two weeks ago today.
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So uh I'm adjusting a lot.
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Let's say that.
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What have been the the toughest parts of being in a new country?
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See in Ireland last year, no no real trouble with the language, I guess maybe some accent uh adjustments, but what has been the toughest part with Spain?
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Yeah, so like quickly with Ireland, like the biggest adjustment there was probably just like getting lonely at times, you know what I'm saying?
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Like I've never been like worried about being lonely in that sense because where I went to college in Cleveland, Case Western Reserve is so far away from home for me.
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But it's just completely different when you're in a different country and everybody you're surrounded with is like entirely new to you.
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Um, so from that point of view, I feel like I'm much better off here in Spain because I've already had that experience in Ireland.
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So like being away from family, being away from friends isn't something that necessarily bothers me as much.
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But yeah, it's it's really just a language barrier.
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Like I can definitely tell that uh I'm gonna be able to build really good relationships with my teammates here.
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Um, but it's just taking a little bit longer to kind of break down those initial interactions of like me getting to know them, them getting to know me, just because it's a little bit harder for me to communicate.
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Um, but I'm learning and like I did have a little bit of Spanish coming into it.
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Uh, not great, but it's it's certainly yeah, what stands out the most as being the toughest adjustment is the language.
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For sure.
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And I've been enjoying for those who who who don't follow Umar on Instagram.
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Uh so far, he's had one week of his Spanish-speaking progression videos, uh, as well as some day in the life and a travel vlog getting over to Spain, which was quite the journey.
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Um, but make sure to stay tuned.
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He's going to be fluent before we know it.
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And uh those who follow along will be able to see that journey.
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So um, yeah, I want to take it back a little bit because you you mentioned that you know, case was far from from your home.
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You're you're from Canton, Georgia.
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And and I know you've posted and you talked a little bit about this, but like how did you find that opportunity?
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And then what was your recruiting process like?
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Because I know for a while you weren't getting a ton of traction um from college coaches.
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Yeah, so it was kind of uniform for most of the players, like at like my my level in high school.
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Like, if you weren't a big name in Georgia at that point, you weren't really getting offers because I was graduating class of 2021.
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This was right after COVID, no live periods in the summer for my last AAU season.
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Uh, players couldn't go on visits, coaches couldn't come watch anything.
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So recruiting was kind of slow.
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Uh, it was gonna be slow regardless.
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But yeah, Case Western Reserve actually found me.
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Like, I had never heard of the school before, and some it was like a day in June, uh, the summer leading up to my senior year.
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I got a Twitter DM from my then assistant coach, Mike Fitzpatrick, who's the head coach at Alma now.
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He like he had seen my he had seen my highlights under a Twitter thread of uh class of 2021 recruits.
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I had seen somebody post it.
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It was a notable account, I believe it might have been in Georgia or just like nationwide.
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And it was like class of 2021 uh players, drop your highlights, drop your metrics.
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So I put like, all right, 6'6, this is my GPA, my test scores, wingspan, blah, blah, blah.
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Drop my highlights.
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And somehow from that, he saw it, uh, saw what he liked, um, or liked what he saw rather, and he sent me a DM.
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And then quickly after that, I also got a DM from the Brandeis assistant coach at the time.
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So that kind of is where my recruiting mostly stayed was those high academic D3s, like higher level uh D3 schools.
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Um, but yeah, at the start of it was just a random Twitter DM from a thread that had thousands of replies.
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So the fact that my assistant coach saw that is kind of crazy to me.
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But yeah, it was definitely a blessing.
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Yeah, I mean, it's it's a good, it's a good reminder for kids out there that like those free platforms sometimes it's just about reposting your stuff and sharing having all the information ready.
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And I'm sure like I mean, having you're being able to say six, six, and then what was your GPA in high school?
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Like 4.5.
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Right.
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So being able to have those things that a coach at a high academic school can quickly be like, okay, yep, saving this one, bookmarking this player.
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Uh and that's all free.
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So it's good to see that that works.
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I I haven't heard um, yeah.
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I mean, kids take advantage of that, but it's it's great to hear the success story of you getting that DM straight from the thread.
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So yeah, like real quick, like that's something I'm very big on.
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Like that I talk about on my social medias is promoting yourself as best you can.
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Cause like that's what really helped me a lot is promoting myself on Twitter, especially.
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Because like that was really big at the time.
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I know Instagram's a little bit bigger now, um, but Twitter's still very prevalent for high school athletes.
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Like, post your highlights, post your stats, make sure you're tagging people, tag your coaches, tag your trainers, tag um, like if there's any notable journalists that cover your area, uh, cover the basketball scene, that really helped me a lot.
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And like being consistent with putting out what I was doing on the court, I feel like that helped me gain a lot of traction too.
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Yeah, and I still feel like even though Instagram's bigger, I feel like Twitter is a little more focused for recruiting purposes.
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Like it's a lot easier to organize your information and have a coach like find you.
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But it we try to always tell recruits just be platform agnostic and and you know, put your stuff on YouTube, put your stuff on on so that it doesn't matter where a coach is looking, they're gonna see you at some point.
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Um, yeah, exactly.
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So good advice.
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Yeah.
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How did you end up deciding on case like over schools like Brandeis?
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What what were what were the things that made you say, like, oh, this is it for me?
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Well, case, like they were my first offer, so that's something I really appreciated.
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Um, and Coach Fitz, he handled the majority of the recruiting for undergraduates.
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Uh, Todd, that was at the time where the fifth-year COVID years were happening, and he was hitting those really hard, and he had a lot of success with that.
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So I give him credit.
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But yeah, so Fitz was really good about maintaining that relationship with me.
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And actually, Case was not like they weren't one of my top schools, honestly.
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And I've told this story to my teammates.
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I don't know if I've told it to my coaches, but uh, when I initially applied, I applied uh early action.
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So this would have been the December deadline, and I was missing something from my application, and they had deferred me to regular decision.
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And so this was around like January, and the application for regular decision was like the due date was coming up, or something like that.
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And I had told my mom, I was like, I don't think I'm gonna apply to this school.
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I already had a bunch of other schools that I was talking to that I was more interested in, mostly because of the fact that I didn't really want to go to Cleveland, Ohio.
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Um, but I was looking at um just like the rankings of the schools, and I was trying to go to the highest academic school I could go to.
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Also, really quickly, um, don't mean it this on Cleveland.
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I absolutely love it.
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Like, that's like home to me now.
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But yeah, I was like looking at schools like Wash U, like U Chicago, uh Caltech was uh reaching out to me, Pomona Pitzner out in California, really high academic.
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And then I actually had committed to MIT in January, but because I didn't get into the school there, um I obviously couldn't play there.
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So yeah, so I had committed to MIT and because I committed to them, uh, I wasn't really able to give any of the other schools that I would have considered um like my commitment, essentially.
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So, like WashU, they went and helped out their guys that had already committed to them with their admissions.
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I assume you Chicago and the other schools did the same.
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So I kind of put all my eggs in that MIT basket.
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And um, once I didn't get into the school there, I was left with the schools I did get into.
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But thankfully, going to Case was like the biggest blessing in disguise for me.
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Um, my four years there were absolutely incredible, and I I know for sure that I wasn't supposed to get an MIT, like God didn't want me to go there, and me going to Case was like the best, that was the best thing that could have happened for me, honestly.
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So, like it is kind of unfortunate that that's the way that it happened was me not fully like wanting it when I was 18 years old, but it was quickly replaced with like a lot of excitement and a lot of joy in my first year that just carried through from four.
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Yeah, and I wear it with pride now that I went to Case Western.
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Love that.
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Yeah, I I I feel like that's something.
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I mean, there are a lot of good lessons of what you just shared.
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One is like the getting the preference from a coach is so important and getting that support through admissions.
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And it's not they're not saying like clearly with the MIT story, like you're not guaranteed to get in anywhere.
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And and if you don't get into a D3 school, you can't play.
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So making sure you have that support from a coach and that you know you understand it is a bit of a gamble if you commit and you go all in, those other options are going to start supporting other people, like you said.
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Um, but the flip side of that is is I think a lot of kids get caught up in the rankings.
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And you know, I feel like I was the same going through my process, and I've talked to a lot of recruits that that think this way, they see, okay, this school's at number 25, that school's at number three, I want to go to number three.
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But in reality, and I think your experience shows this so well, is you can say on on paper, oh, I don't really want to go to Cleveland, I don't know this school.
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But then you get there and you you meet the community, you see the people, you you meet the guys.
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Um and I feel like not to say you can have a great time at anywhere, like at any school, but I think there are a lot of amazing opportunities at the division three level and getting on campus, seeing what it's actually like in person versus looking just at the rankings or or kind of looking at a place on a map that you you aren't familiar with, I think you can really uh it can really surprise you.
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And I think you can there can be a lot of good outcomes, not just like a top school and then everything else is bad, if that makes sense.
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Yeah.
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And I think that that is something that's unique to the high school classes of 2020 and 2021 was because I wasn't able to actually go and visit these schools, I was really just having to go based on a lot of internet metrics.
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Um, but like it's uniform for D3 because obviously we're not a scholarship level.
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So everybody that's playing basketball at these schools truly loves what they're doing.
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So it really is a special environment.
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And I know you said like you can't say it uniformly that you're gonna have a great time at every school, but the majority of schools you probably will.
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So it was a lot of it was it was a lot of me being naive at 18 years old, but I just got really blessed and I got really lucky that it didn't end up hurting me.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And and you come in and you and you kind of, you know, you go from being this pretty strong high school player, um, you know, you're averaging a double double as a senior, and you come in and you know, you're you're contributing off the bench.
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As you mentioned, it was the COVID year, so you guys were pulling in guys.
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Did you have Mazio that year?
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No, uh my freshman year.
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Yeah, was that your yeah?
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No, we didn't have him to my junior year.
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We had Griff Korniker from Middlebury, and we had Mitch Pendergast, my freshman year, my sophomore year.
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Mitch came from Mercer D1, and then our other grad transfer, my senior uh my uh freshman year, sorry, was Brian Hines, uh big man from I believe Franklin and Marshall.
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So you guys, you you were competing with some pretty older talent that was, you know, maybe physically more mature than you, or just, you know, had had college experience, but you still come in and you you get 17 games under your belt off the bench, you you score a couple points a game.
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Um, what was that first season like in terms of getting, you know, some experience, getting your feet wet at the college level, and then like adjusting to the game.
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What were some of the challenges there?
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Yeah.
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So another piece of the story was my senior year of high school in like late January, I had a really bad ankle injury.
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I dislocated my ankle.
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So I wasn't playing basketball for about six months, and this factored a lot into my college decisions was I didn't really think I was gonna play basketball in college.
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Like, even though I went to Case Western, I was like, all right, I'm probably gonna go here for a year and then I'll transfer to a school.
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I was probably gonna transfer to Georgia Tech and just be a student.
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So my experience with basketball that year was essentially just trying to have the most fun that I could.
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Um, and I feel like that lightheartedness really helped me out a lot because I wasn't placing so much pressure on my performance.
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Like I was focused on getting healthy and I was focused on just making sure that it was an enjoyable experience for that one year to see if I wanted to stay or not.
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Um but like selfishly, um uh or not selfishly, like I don't know if that's the proper term, but when I was in high school, I thought that I was a higher level than a division three player.
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Like my goal was to play in the Ivy League.
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So I didn't really think it was gonna be super difficult to be a productive player.
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And I think kind of that that naivety, that air, like a little bit of cockiness, arrogance, and confidence helped me out a lot because I kind of came into it and I was like, all right, like this shouldn't be that hard.
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Um and just based on my play style, like I'm always gonna play the right way.
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I'm gonna make open shots, I'm gonna defend, I'm gonna play hard.
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Um that combined with my size made it easy for me to stick out compared to the other freshmen on the team.
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And it gave me a window of opportunity to be able to slide into a game here or there where we might be missing a guy, and I just made the most of my opportunities.
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So yeah, my focus was just having fun and trying to contribute to winning.
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Um, and thankfully I was able to do those two things for a really good team.
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Yeah.
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Is there value to having that mindset overall?
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Like how before that, were you maybe like a little more competitive, a little more like self-critical?
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Do you think there's value to just playing lighter, or is that easier said than done?
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It's much easier said than done.
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Like, yeah, I was definitely super serious growing up, super serious as a kid in high school too.
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Um, there was like a couple instances my senior year where I was like, all right, maybe I don't need to be like super serious, maybe I can kind of chill a little bit before a game.
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Um, and like I had success with that, but I also had some times where I maybe wasn't super successful.
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So it's definitely a balance that you need to find.
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Like I had that same level of aloofness my sophomore year, and that was an incredible year for me too.
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But then my junior year didn't work out super well.
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Um, but there was a lot of different factors that went into that.
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But I think for any young athlete that might be listening to this or any player in college right now, I think you need to be able to, yeah, have that balance of understanding what needs to get done and what steps need to be taken to get there.
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But you also have to remind yourself that like basketball is fun.
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And like, especially at the D3 level where you're choosing to play, like you're paying for school, like it's supposed to be an enjoyable experience for you.
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And you don't ever want to lose sight of that because you may as well not be playing.
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Yeah, definitely.
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Yeah, I mean, I think that's it's very true.
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And in the midst of like, you know, all the challenges you're gonna have in terms of um, you know, maybe you don't score well one game or you know, you get a tough grade in a class, or or you just are buried in homework uh one week, it is it is good to remember that it can be an outlet and not to be so tough on yourself and try to try to have it be a fun thing.
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Um, because I think every every college athlete, every basketball player has had that tough, you know, uh bus ride home from a game, or for you guys, tough flight home from a from a you know, from a weekend where you you you played the the the back-to-back schedule and and maybe you guys came away with two losses or something.
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Um but yeah, I think it's good, it's a good reminder just to take it in stride and and and try to enjoy it.
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Maybe, maybe you can't always be super positive.
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You got to be locked in sometimes.
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Um, but I think that's a good reminder.
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So I want to talk on the on the academic side, how did you balance it?
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You were a computer science major.
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Did you know you were gonna do that coming in, or was that something you kind of um came to as your career went on?
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Uh yeah.
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So I I I had declared computer science like pretty early.
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Uh like I knew that's what I wanted to do going into college.
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I didn't make that decision until like probably right before I got there.
00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:55.440
But I knew like that summer going into it, I was like, all right, like I'm probably gonna be a computer science major.
00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:01.039
My older cousin kind of pushed me towards that direction because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to study.
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:08.480
Um, but yeah, going into it, I didn't really have that one year, one and a half years of being an undecided major.
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.359
Like, thankfully, like I kind of knew what track I was gonna be on.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:15.519
Uh, balancing it was obviously really tough at a school like Case Western.
00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.079
Like, it's insanely rigorous.
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:31.680
But the great thing about our basketball program, um, and just D3 in general, is they know what the priority is, and they are very accommodating for the academics.
00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:37.359
Like, if you have lecture, you're supposed to be at lecture, like you shouldn't be skipping lecture to go to class.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:45.039
If you have exams, if you have uh crazy amounts of homework, things like that, like basketball is supposed to come second.
00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.119
So that balancing that made it easy.
00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:53.920
I also had uh an older teammate, he was a couple years older than me, that was also computer science, so he was able to help me out.
00:19:54.160 --> 00:20:11.920
And I think doing as best you can to make friends outside of basketball and like also within your academics, within your major, within your field, so that you can kind of depend on them a little bit for help when you need it because you're gonna be so tied up with so many different time commitments.
00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:18.000
I feel like a combination of all those things is gonna make for a successful uh experience.
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:24.319
But yeah, especially considering like the travel and everything, it was certainly tough.
00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:24.880
Yeah.
00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:31.759
Talk about that a little more, like the developing relationships outside of sports, because I think this is something a lot of kids don't take advantage of.
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.319
Where did you go for that community?
00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:39.599
You know, maybe just the computer science department, or you know, who else were you hanging out with on campus?
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:40.160
Yeah.
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.559
Uh this is something that I've been very big on since I was a kid.
00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.880
Is like I didn't ever want to be ever want to be known as like the basketball guy.
00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.519
Like, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm known as anyway.
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:59.200
But I've always wanted to be more well-rounded as a person than just being strictly pigeonholed into basketball.
00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:04.880
So with college specifically, it happened organically through academics, obviously.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:13.200
Uh, I made friends in the computer science field, but then also using my cultural and my religious identity to my advantage.
00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:18.559
So, me being half Pakistani, there's a Pakistani students association on my campus.
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.599
Me being Muslim, there's a Muslim Students Association on my campus.
00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:23.440
I was able to make friends through that.
00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:55.920
Um, so yeah, just having different outlets and like for somebody that maybe doesn't have the opportunity to go to a different student association, whatever hobbies you might be interested in, whether that be like film, video games, chess, whatever it could be, like there's definitely something that you can do on your campus to be involved with another group of like minded people, uh, with uh people with similar interests that also helps with the stress of playing a college sport.
00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:06.000
Because like like you mentioned, like uh There might be certain road trips you come back owing to, and it's like you just want to escape a little bit from basketball.
00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:10.319
And you know, it's hard to escape within academics because that's also a stressful thing.
00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:20.720
But like if you're able to lean on friends that aren't basketball focused, basketball-centric, and you're talking just about something completely differently, that helps out the mental so much.
00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:22.559
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:32.480
I think I think that's well said, and I think it's a good reminder for younger kids who maybe think, oh, you know, I'm just gonna be on the basketball team, that's gonna be what I do.
00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:57.920
Having that community outside of sports, not only just I think is it is a good thing to, you know, connect with other parts of you, other other, you know, interests, whether it's yeah, cultural identity, religion, hobbies, like you talked about, um, I think that's so important just for keeping balance, keeping your priorities straight, and and then just getting the most out of your college, like getting that experience um with other people and learning.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.519
And so I I really yeah, want to amplify that message.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:03.119
I think that's awesome that you did that.
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.359
So um you you mentioned your your half Pakistani.
00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:09.119
Uh what is the other half?
00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:14.079
Because I I seen you are playing for uh the Guyana national team.
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:18.160
So is is that um is that the other half?
00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:20.960
Or how did that how did that try out come up come about?
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:21.519
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:22.319
So that's the other half.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:28.559
So my dad was born and raised in Pakistan, um, and then my mom was born and raised in Guyana.
00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:38.319
So yeah, the Guyana national team, like that was that all happened so fast, but also it it was a it was a long process at the same time.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:47.920
So when I knew I wanted to play overseas, I was like, all right, I have this opportunity to go get a dual citizenship, which is major for anybody trying to play overseas.
00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:54.240
So that makes it to where I'm not like once again pigeonholed into being an American import.
00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.680
Like I can just be a different kind of import.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:58.640
You know what I'm saying?
00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:05.039
Because there's tougher limits on being an American in most leagues because of American talent being so good.
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.640
So I had tried to get my guy into passport.
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:15.599
This was March of 2025, was when I originally went and tried to apply for it.
00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:24.720
Whole bunch of different stuff uh came up to the to where I wasn't able to get it before my rookie season in Ireland, which was September of 2025.
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.359
So I was like, all right, I'll have to wait till I come back.
00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:33.839
There were still different things that were blocking me from being able to get it until I was finally able to get my passport.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:36.559
This was June 18th of 2026.
00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:40.240
So a full 15 months later, I finally got it.
00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:45.119
And once I got it, I told my agent right away, I was like, hey, I finally got the passport.
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:52.240
Uh, because like I was hoping it would be able to help me land uh an overseas contract, and thankfully it did.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:25:04.480
But another benefit from it was I didn't even know that Guyana was competing that summer, and my agent had known the new Guyana coach that they were bringing in.
00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.039
He already had some sort of relationship with him.
00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:16.960
So literally the next day, he's like, hey, Guyana's competing in a couple of weeks or in three weeks, you have an opportunity to try out for the team.
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:24.799
And the reason why I had to try out is because you're only allowed one player on your team that was not born in the country.
00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:31.759
So me being born in the US and getting my citizenship through my mother, I had to try out for that one specific spot.
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:38.960
So the trial process was about two weeks where I was there just practicing with the team.
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:45.599
It was a couple other guys that had fit into that same classification as I did that I was competing with.
00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:49.599
I learned that I made the team about a couple days before our game started.
00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:57.599
And then yeah, we had our four games, and it was it all happened so fast, but it was like the most incredible experience.
00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:05.279
Like it was so much fun, and it was such a blessing and such an honor to be able to represent uh just any country in international basketball play.
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:07.519
Yeah, especially being able to represent where my mom's from.
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:08.640
That was beautiful.
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.480
Yeah, let me get that backstory.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:12.079
I saw I saw the picture that you playing.
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:13.119
I saw the stats.
00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:23.519
It looked like you guys suited up against Bermuda and uh Antigua and Barbuda in in the FIBA America qualifiers for the Caribbean.
00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:27.119
So pretty uh, yeah, very, very cool.
00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:31.680
Anytime you can represent a country like that, especially like you said, on your mom's side.
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:32.319
So yeah.
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:35.200
It was uh sorry to cut you off.
00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.319
It was no no, please.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:38.960
My it was my first time in Guyana.
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.720
Like I had never been there before.
00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:47.759
My sisters haven't been there, most of my cousins haven't been, and it was my mom's first time going back in almost 40 years.
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.559
Wow.
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:55.359
So she came when when I told her that I made the team, she came and she was able to come for all four games.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:01.680
So, like her com her going back to her home country, because the games were hosted in Guyana, which was also amazing.
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:07.920
Her going back to her home country for the first time in 40 years and me being the reason why just meant so much to me.
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.000
And I'm sure it meant a lot to her as well.
00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:13.279
Yeah, I mean, that's very special to be able to share that.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:19.200
Um, yeah, for those who don't know, uh Anna is in South America, right?
00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:26.400
Uh kind of facing the Atlantic Ocean, but uh near Venezuela and uh on the coast.
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:29.599
So I'm sure some some beautiful, beautiful coastline.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:34.559
Were you able to travel at all or uh check out the country, or were you mostly just playing?
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.880
Uh no, yeah, it was mostly just playing.
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.279
Um we were in the capital anyway, so I was able to see like some of the city.
00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:44.319
Um, but yeah, I didn't really get to see too too much.
00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:46.480
But yeah, it was nice.
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:49.519
Yeah, fun to fun to get down there, especially with your mom.
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:52.559
Um how did you you mentioned your agent earlier?
00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:57.039
How did you find an agent out of school and and what was that process like?
00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:09.039
Yeah, so I had started, I'd kind of started this process the summer before my senior year of college, because I was like, all right, this is the goal that I'm working towards.
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:12.799
It'd be good to try to get into contact with people as early as I can.
00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:20.000
So I was reaching out to former teammates of mine that I had considered playing overseas if they had connections.
00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:29.200
I was reaching out to uh trainers that I had worked with back in Georgia, um, obviously using Todd as a reference, my head coach from Case Western.
00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:32.880
Um, just anybody that I knew that might have had connections.
00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:38.880
Um, but then I kind of put it a little bit on hold during the season.
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:45.200
Um and then after the season had ended, I was really trying to ramp that up, like trying to sign with somebody as soon as I could.
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:52.720
And I ended up signing with my agent, I believe it was late April or maybe early May, it was around that time frame.
00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:57.039
And yeah, I it was just through one of those connections.
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:00.960
So it was from my former teammate, Mitch Prennergast.
00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:02.799
I mentioned he had played at Mercer.
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:12.720
He was considering playing overseas, and he had a teammate from Mercer that was a little bit older than him, I think, who played about the same position as me.
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:14.160
He said he was similar play style.
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.880
He's like, Oh, talk to him, he might have some people.
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:22.960
So then he connected me to like three different agents and was like, Oh, reach out to all of them.
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:31.759
Um, and out of all the people I'd reached out to, I had messaged like a good bit of agents, only one of them was really consistent uh talking to me.
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:40.960
And because I was very new to the game, obviously, I didn't know what exactly I should be looking for in an agent.
00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:54.240
But so yeah, I didn't know what I was looking for in an agent exactly, and there was obviously some skepticism before I'm putting my pen to paper and signing anything, but especially with that, there was some skepticism.
00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:59.200
It was like, all right, I'm putting my trust in this person to be able to help me fulfill my dream.
00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:07.200
But because there was only one guy that was really consistent communicating with me, I was like, I'd be stupid to not go where I'm wanted.
00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:09.279
So I was like, all right, I'm just gonna trust this.
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:12.799
If he believes in me, I'm gonna sign with him, and it's been good.
00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:13.599
It's been great.
00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:15.359
Yeah, I think that's a good thing.
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:20.000
Just just like just like recruiting, you know, go where you're wanted.
00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:23.920
Don't don't chase something that that isn't, they aren't reciprocating that interest.
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:28.480
Um so I think that's a good good takeaway for people listening to this.
00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:34.079
Um that's the same approach that I've taken to signing contracts now, is going where I'm wanted.
00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:42.400
Like the team that I played for in Ireland, like they they absolutely loved everything about me before I had signed, and then when I was there, it made for a great experience.
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:52.960
And I know it's early on while I'm here in Spain, but before I'd signed the contract, like the coach and the president of the team, like they were very adamant about the fact that they really wanted me.
00:30:53.200 --> 00:31:02.880
So yeah, for high school players looking at colleges, like there's gonna be a level of like fluff that a coach is gonna try to sell you on their school.
00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:12.799
But if you can feel any sort of like genuine love coming from them, that they really want you there and that they think that you're gonna be able to succeed there, don't take that for granted.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:13.680
Definitely.
00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:15.440
Yeah, I think that is a gift.
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:30.319
Like anytime a coach is taking that time to look at you because they're getting, especially at a school like Case, or you know, you were looking at MIT, they're getting 50 plus emails a day from kids, or they're getting blown up through DMs.
00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:34.720
And so if they're taking the time to look at you, that is that is really an opportunity.
00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:37.839
So I think that's something not to take for granted.
00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.960
Um yeah, I want to talk about your your kind of pro career.
00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:56.240
You you mentioned it a little bit, but and I know you've posted on this some, but you were definitely like you talked about hitting open shots, but you were definitely you've always been a defensive player, like always had the blocks.
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:03.119
Um what advice would you have for kind of younger players in terms of getting on the court?
00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:07.519
And and you know, most people don't want to play defense.
00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:15.519
Is that something you hung your hat on that that you felt like has given you opportunities to both now play internationally and play uh as a pro overseas?
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:16.960
Yeah, certainly.
00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:21.599
Like I know I'm blessed because I'm 6'6 and I have a seven-foot wingspan.
00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:31.839
So like it's a little bit easier for me to be able to make those defensive plays, but you're essentially gonna be able to play at the level that you can defend at.
00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:40.480
Like maybe you can go a little bit higher if your offensive skill set is really like that special, or if you have a specific skill set that is so special on offense.
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:46.319
Like if you're an elite elite shooter or playmaker, then maybe you could play at a level higher than you could defend at.
00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:52.880
But for the most part, like you're gonna be within like punching range of where you can defend at.
00:32:53.200 --> 00:33:03.920
And same thing with the offensive skill set, like you might be able to get on the court because you have it, but you're not gonna stay on the court if you don't have any, if you don't have that defensive capability.
00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:09.279
And it's a different thing being just a neutral defender and being a positive defender.
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:16.160
Because when you're a positive defender, that's also another factor that a coach can have to trust you.
00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:22.559
Um, and it allows you to play with a little bit more freedom, a little bit less stress offensively.
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:30.319
Um, but yeah, like for me personally, that's something yeah, I've I've definitely hung my hat on.
00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:41.279
Um, like in college, my main thing was especially before I had had like offensive responsibility, like my freshman year, my sophomore year.
00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:44.400
I know my sophomore year, I averaged, I think it was 13.
00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:52.079
Like I was definitely a big time piece in our offense, but that wasn't something that I put so much pressure on.
00:33:52.240 --> 00:34:01.359
My my mindset those first couple years, and also my junior year was I'm gonna come in and I'm going to make athletic plays all around the court.
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:04.400
I'm gonna try to fly around, I'm gonna try to make athletic plays.
00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:16.000
Um, and I think just having that kind of simplistic mindset towards just the game in general, but like especially defense, makes it easy for you to stand out.
00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:24.159
And it's gonna make it easy for a coach to look down the line, look down the bench, and be like, okay, we can we can trust him out there on the court.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:25.920
Like we don't have to worry about him.
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:27.599
Yeah, I like that.
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:33.039
And especially at the D3 level, 6'6, 7 foot wingspan, you're gonna be contesting a lot of shots.
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:36.800
Um, so yeah, I mean, I think it's a good reminder.
00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:38.719
Keep it simple, do what you do well.
00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:42.320
You don't have to do everything, you don't have to be a 30-point scorer to get on the court.
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:44.400
But as you mentioned, that's a good anecdote.
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:51.119
Like when the coach looks down the bench, they're making a split-second decision about who they can trust, who they need out there.
00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:57.280
And if you're that person who does their job, you're gonna get the call more often than not.
00:34:57.599 --> 00:34:57.840
Yeah.
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:11.440
And like above all else, like the why I have the confidence that I think I'm gonna be able to keep leveling up in my professional career is I just have the mindset that I'm going to do whatever I can to impact winning.
00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:23.679
So whatever that looked like that looks like for you might be different than the next person, but for the most part, defense is that's going to be a staple for every single person, is how well can you defend?
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:29.360
That is going to impact your ability to impact winning, and that's going to help carry you throughout your career.
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.440
Yeah, great message.
00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:32.320
Yeah.
00:35:32.639 --> 00:35:39.360
So um just to kind of close out the conversation here, you're two games into this this season in Spain.
00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:44.880
What have been, or what are you some of your goals, I guess, for this year um with your new team?
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:52.320
And uh, because you started off strong, uh, 17 points and 12 boards, and then 10 points and seven boards in your first two games.
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.119
So what are some of your kind of goals for this season?
00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:02.480
Yeah, so in the immediate, right now, my short-term goal is to continue adjusting to the play style and adjusting to the pace.
00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:07.360
Uh, it's definitely a faster pace than everywhere else I've played.
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:15.360
Um, like when I was playing in Guyana, like the Caribbean, they play a very athletic style of basketball, but it's still not as fast, I would say.
00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:28.880
Um, definitely a faster pace, but um not that I feel out of place playing uh at a faster rate, but still just getting adjusted to that to like I really feel comfortable in it.
00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:46.079
And like I know this is kind of like a I don't know what the proper term is, but like being able to get to the point where I can slow down in that faster pace, where like I can really feel comfortable and the game feels more like I'm reading it as as opposed to reacting to it.
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.800
Um, that's kind of what I'm focused on now.
00:36:48.880 --> 00:37:00.639
But as far as like season goals, uh our team, we we believe that we could get promoted to the next league, um, which would require us to win our our conference right now.
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:03.199
Um, so that's something that we're focused on.
00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:11.280
And then me on an individual level, uh, I just want to do everything that I can to prove that I can play at a higher level than where I'm at right now.
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:24.400
So proving that I can be a three-level score, proving that I can be a knockdown shooter and that I could defend multiple positions, um, it's pretty much going to be the same thing for me wherever I go, uh, focusing on those things.
00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:30.400
But yeah, just keeping it simple, but also showing that I've been able to expand my game.
00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:32.079
Yeah.
00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.079
And then what about uh off the court?
00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:41.519
I know I've I've talked to some D3 athletes who have gone to play pro and they they kind of work a little, they do an internship maybe on the side.
00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:44.559
Are you using that comp site degree at all right now in your off time?
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:50.559
So last year when I was in Ireland, I was I was working a part-time job for a startup.
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:55.440
I was doing some contract work, and that was for about like three, three and a half months.
00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:59.199
As of now, I don't have anything, but I got a couple things in the works.
00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:07.360
Um, myself and a former teammate from Case Western, we're trying to build out an application that hopefully we'll be able to launch sometime soon.
00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:11.360
Um, it's it's related to basketball, so that's gonna be exciting.
00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:18.000
And then just I know you had mentioned before about me posting on social media, like continuing to try to build up my personal brand.
00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:26.880
Um, I'm more focused now on trying to um gear my content towards helping younger players.
00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:37.119
Um, and I'm hoping to be able to uh be a mentor to a few or to some and help them reach their goals, help them get uh get better at specific things.
00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:45.440
And yeah, just working on those two things is what I've been taking up more of my time outside of the actual basketball requirements.
00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.239
Where should people follow you for those updates?
00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:50.559
Uh on my Instagram, uh Umar.
00:38:54.239 --> 00:38:57.039
Rashid uh has two D's on the end.
00:38:57.360 --> 00:38:57.599
Yeah.
00:38:57.840 --> 00:38:58.320
Great.
00:38:58.719 --> 00:38:59.119
All right.
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.039
Now, final question we guys have ever guests.
00:39:01.119 --> 00:39:06.000
Uh, if you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self, what advice would you give 18-year-old umar?
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:08.400
What advice would I give?
00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:15.760
Oh, there's a lot.
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:18.320
I'm trying to keep it short.
00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:30.000
Um like put in everything that you can.
00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:38.159
Put in everything that you can, like, especially because there's so much more you can get out of it than you think.
00:39:38.400 --> 00:39:44.079
Like when I was 18 years old, I didn't realize that you could go on to play professionally out of a D3.
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:50.800
I didn't realize that you could go on and get a chance at the NBA like Toby Harris, like Hank Morgan.
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:56.000
Um I didn't realize that you can really make a name for yourself.
00:39:56.159 --> 00:40:03.119
You can really do great things with basketball if you treat it like it should be treated.
00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:08.480
Like I didn't put in as much time and as much effort as I should have when I was in college.
00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:16.800
And that's something that I don't necessarily regret because I know my life is playing out exactly as like God wants it to.
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:18.800
But it's something that I think about.
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:22.639
I was like, if I was 18 years old again, I would have definitely done that differently.
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:31.519
Because the yeah, this game can carry you so far, this game can open so many doors for you on the court, off the court, whatever.
00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:42.320
Um, but if you put in that intention, you put in that genuine hard work into it, then that's the only way you're gonna be able to see those types of uh benefits.
00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:45.039
So yeah, uh put in everything that you can.
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:46.719
That would that would be my answer.
00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:48.480
Don't take it for granted.
00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:50.639
You only get one, you only get one pass through life.
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:52.639
So yeah, um, great advice.
00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:55.199
And Umar, thanks for joining the program, man.
00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:57.039
Yeah, thanks for having me.
00:40:57.280 --> 00:40:57.679
All right.
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:05.519
Well, like he he mentioned, go check out his uh updates on his pro career, uh, what he's up to off the court.
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:09.440
And uh that's both on Instagram and TikTok.
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:11.039
And thanks for listening.
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:16.079
This has been a conversation with former Case Western men's basketball standout, Umar Rashid.
00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:22.239
He is in his second year overseas playing in Spain, and I'm sure uh there'll be many more beyond that.
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:29.679
So make sure to check out previous episodes wherever you listen on Spotify or Apple and let us know who you want to talk to next.
00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:31.360
We'll be back with more soon.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.360
Welcome back to another episode of the student athlete sessions.
00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:11.199
Today we're joined by former Case Western men's basketball player Umar Rasheed.
00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:15.199
He is currently overseas in his second pro season.
00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:22.239
Uh you know, already has a decorated overseas pro career and international career, which we will get into.
00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:24.719
Um, but Omar, welcome to the program.
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:26.719
I appreciate you for having me.
00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:27.679
I'm excited.
00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:37.039
Yeah, I I gave a little preview here, but we always like to start out by having the guests just share where they are, what's going on for you today, and and where are you right now?
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.399
Yeah, so currently, like you mentioned, I'm in my second season overseas.
00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:44.399
Right now, I'm in Huelva, Spain, which is in the southwest of Spain.
00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:46.560
Uh, it's beautiful weather here, it's great.
00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.520
Um, but yeah, it's my second season last year.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:54.640
I was in Ireland, so uh I was getting a little bit of a step up here in Spain.
00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:01.520
Like I'm still at a lower division within Spain, but the basketball here is just so big and it's so popular.
00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:04.159
So the local talent is really, really good.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:09.359
So I feel like I'm in a good spot as far as the trajectory for my future career.
00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:13.200
But yeah, second year in Spain, we just had our second game this past week.
00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:15.200
I got here two weeks ago today.
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.760
So uh I'm adjusting a lot.
00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:18.719
Let's say that.
00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.640
What have been the the toughest parts of being in a new country?
00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:32.159
See in Ireland last year, no no real trouble with the language, I guess maybe some accent uh adjustments, but what has been the toughest part with Spain?
00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:41.519
Yeah, so like quickly with Ireland, like the biggest adjustment there was probably just like getting lonely at times, you know what I'm saying?
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:55.599
Like I've never been like worried about being lonely in that sense because where I went to college in Cleveland, Case Western Reserve is so far away from home for me.
00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:02.480
But it's just completely different when you're in a different country and everybody you're surrounded with is like entirely new to you.
00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:08.800
Um, so from that point of view, I feel like I'm much better off here in Spain because I've already had that experience in Ireland.
00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:13.680
So like being away from family, being away from friends isn't something that necessarily bothers me as much.
00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.879
But yeah, it's it's really just a language barrier.
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:23.599
Like I can definitely tell that uh I'm gonna be able to build really good relationships with my teammates here.
00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:36.719
Um, but it's just taking a little bit longer to kind of break down those initial interactions of like me getting to know them, them getting to know me, just because it's a little bit harder for me to communicate.
00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:41.520
Um, but I'm learning and like I did have a little bit of Spanish coming into it.
00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:52.080
Uh, not great, but it's it's certainly yeah, what stands out the most as being the toughest adjustment is the language.
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:52.719
For sure.
00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:57.120
And I've been enjoying for those who who who don't follow Umar on Instagram.
00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:07.840
Uh so far, he's had one week of his Spanish-speaking progression videos, uh, as well as some day in the life and a travel vlog getting over to Spain, which was quite the journey.
00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.400
Um, but make sure to stay tuned.
00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:12.080
He's going to be fluent before we know it.
00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.280
And uh those who follow along will be able to see that journey.
00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:22.080
So um, yeah, I want to take it back a little bit because you you mentioned that you know, case was far from from your home.
00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:24.000
You're you're from Canton, Georgia.
00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:31.120
And and I know you've posted and you talked a little bit about this, but like how did you find that opportunity?
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:33.039
And then what was your recruiting process like?
00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:37.840
Because I know for a while you weren't getting a ton of traction um from college coaches.
00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:45.680
Yeah, so it was kind of uniform for most of the players, like at like my my level in high school.
00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:52.560
Like, if you weren't a big name in Georgia at that point, you weren't really getting offers because I was graduating class of 2021.
00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:58.000
This was right after COVID, no live periods in the summer for my last AAU season.
00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:01.840
Uh, players couldn't go on visits, coaches couldn't come watch anything.
00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.919
So recruiting was kind of slow.
00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:06.319
Uh, it was gonna be slow regardless.
00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.759
But yeah, Case Western Reserve actually found me.
00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:17.439
Like, I had never heard of the school before, and some it was like a day in June, uh, the summer leading up to my senior year.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:24.959
I got a Twitter DM from my then assistant coach, Mike Fitzpatrick, who's the head coach at Alma now.
00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:34.240
He like he had seen my he had seen my highlights under a Twitter thread of uh class of 2021 recruits.
00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:35.839
I had seen somebody post it.
00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:40.720
It was a notable account, I believe it might have been in Georgia or just like nationwide.
00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:46.000
And it was like class of 2021 uh players, drop your highlights, drop your metrics.
00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:51.920
So I put like, all right, 6'6, this is my GPA, my test scores, wingspan, blah, blah, blah.
00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:53.199
Drop my highlights.
00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:01.680
And somehow from that, he saw it, uh, saw what he liked, um, or liked what he saw rather, and he sent me a DM.
00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:07.600
And then quickly after that, I also got a DM from the Brandeis assistant coach at the time.
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:16.160
So that kind of is where my recruiting mostly stayed was those high academic D3s, like higher level uh D3 schools.
00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:23.680
Um, but yeah, at the start of it was just a random Twitter DM from a thread that had thousands of replies.
00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:28.639
So the fact that my assistant coach saw that is kind of crazy to me.
00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.480
But yeah, it was definitely a blessing.
00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:42.800
Yeah, I mean, it's it's a good, it's a good reminder for kids out there that like those free platforms sometimes it's just about reposting your stuff and sharing having all the information ready.
00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:48.160
And I'm sure like I mean, having you're being able to say six, six, and then what was your GPA in high school?
00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.319
Like 4.5.
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:51.040
Right.
00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:59.439
So being able to have those things that a coach at a high academic school can quickly be like, okay, yep, saving this one, bookmarking this player.
00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.600
Uh and that's all free.
00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:03.839
So it's good to see that that works.
00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.560
I I haven't heard um, yeah.
00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:12.319
I mean, kids take advantage of that, but it's it's great to hear the success story of you getting that DM straight from the thread.
00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:16.160
So yeah, like real quick, like that's something I'm very big on.
00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:20.319
Like that I talk about on my social medias is promoting yourself as best you can.
00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:24.879
Cause like that's what really helped me a lot is promoting myself on Twitter, especially.
00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.720
Because like that was really big at the time.
00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:33.439
I know Instagram's a little bit bigger now, um, but Twitter's still very prevalent for high school athletes.
00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:47.759
Like, post your highlights, post your stats, make sure you're tagging people, tag your coaches, tag your trainers, tag um, like if there's any notable journalists that cover your area, uh, cover the basketball scene, that really helped me a lot.
00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:54.079
And like being consistent with putting out what I was doing on the court, I feel like that helped me gain a lot of traction too.
00:06:54.879 --> 00:07:00.399
Yeah, and I still feel like even though Instagram's bigger, I feel like Twitter is a little more focused for recruiting purposes.
00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:06.319
Like it's a lot easier to organize your information and have a coach like find you.
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:17.759
But it we try to always tell recruits just be platform agnostic and and you know, put your stuff on YouTube, put your stuff on on so that it doesn't matter where a coach is looking, they're gonna see you at some point.
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:19.040
Um, yeah, exactly.
00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:20.800
So good advice.
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:21.279
Yeah.
00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:25.040
How did you end up deciding on case like over schools like Brandeis?
00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:28.800
What what were what were the things that made you say, like, oh, this is it for me?
00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:34.560
Well, case, like they were my first offer, so that's something I really appreciated.
00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:39.680
Um, and Coach Fitz, he handled the majority of the recruiting for undergraduates.
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:47.839
Uh, Todd, that was at the time where the fifth-year COVID years were happening, and he was hitting those really hard, and he had a lot of success with that.
00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:49.120
So I give him credit.
00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:53.279
But yeah, so Fitz was really good about maintaining that relationship with me.
00:07:53.600 --> 00:08:00.000
And actually, Case was not like they weren't one of my top schools, honestly.
00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:03.439
And I've told this story to my teammates.
00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:11.839
I don't know if I've told it to my coaches, but uh, when I initially applied, I applied uh early action.
00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:19.600
So this would have been the December deadline, and I was missing something from my application, and they had deferred me to regular decision.
00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:27.519
And so this was around like January, and the application for regular decision was like the due date was coming up, or something like that.
00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.959
And I had told my mom, I was like, I don't think I'm gonna apply to this school.
00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.919
I already had a bunch of other schools that I was talking to that I was more interested in, mostly because of the fact that I didn't really want to go to Cleveland, Ohio.
00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:46.480
Um, but I was looking at um just like the rankings of the schools, and I was trying to go to the highest academic school I could go to.
00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.759
Also, really quickly, um, don't mean it this on Cleveland.
00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:50.639
I absolutely love it.
00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:52.559
Like, that's like home to me now.
00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:02.480
But yeah, I was like looking at schools like Wash U, like U Chicago, uh Caltech was uh reaching out to me, Pomona Pitzner out in California, really high academic.
00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:14.399
And then I actually had committed to MIT in January, but because I didn't get into the school there, um I obviously couldn't play there.
00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:28.799
So yeah, so I had committed to MIT and because I committed to them, uh, I wasn't really able to give any of the other schools that I would have considered um like my commitment, essentially.
00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:34.320
So, like WashU, they went and helped out their guys that had already committed to them with their admissions.
00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.720
I assume you Chicago and the other schools did the same.
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.840
So I kind of put all my eggs in that MIT basket.
00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:45.440
And um, once I didn't get into the school there, I was left with the schools I did get into.
00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:49.759
But thankfully, going to Case was like the biggest blessing in disguise for me.
00:09:49.919 --> 00:10:03.519
Um, my four years there were absolutely incredible, and I I know for sure that I wasn't supposed to get an MIT, like God didn't want me to go there, and me going to Case was like the best, that was the best thing that could have happened for me, honestly.
00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:20.639
So, like it is kind of unfortunate that that's the way that it happened was me not fully like wanting it when I was 18 years old, but it was quickly replaced with like a lot of excitement and a lot of joy in my first year that just carried through from four.
00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:23.440
Yeah, and I wear it with pride now that I went to Case Western.
00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:24.240
Love that.
00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.080
Yeah, I I I feel like that's something.
00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:29.120
I mean, there are a lot of good lessons of what you just shared.
00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:35.279
One is like the getting the preference from a coach is so important and getting that support through admissions.
00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:41.200
And it's not they're not saying like clearly with the MIT story, like you're not guaranteed to get in anywhere.
00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:45.440
And and if you don't get into a D3 school, you can't play.
00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:57.679
So making sure you have that support from a coach and that you know you understand it is a bit of a gamble if you commit and you go all in, those other options are going to start supporting other people, like you said.
00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:02.879
Um, but the flip side of that is is I think a lot of kids get caught up in the rankings.
00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:13.279
And you know, I feel like I was the same going through my process, and I've talked to a lot of recruits that that think this way, they see, okay, this school's at number 25, that school's at number three, I want to go to number three.
00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:22.320
But in reality, and I think your experience shows this so well, is you can say on on paper, oh, I don't really want to go to Cleveland, I don't know this school.
00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:27.440
But then you get there and you you meet the community, you see the people, you you meet the guys.
00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:53.120
Um and I feel like not to say you can have a great time at anywhere, like at any school, but I think there are a lot of amazing opportunities at the division three level and getting on campus, seeing what it's actually like in person versus looking just at the rankings or or kind of looking at a place on a map that you you aren't familiar with, I think you can really uh it can really surprise you.
00:11:53.200 --> 00:12:00.000
And I think you can there can be a lot of good outcomes, not just like a top school and then everything else is bad, if that makes sense.
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:00.559
Yeah.
00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:13.200
And I think that that is something that's unique to the high school classes of 2020 and 2021 was because I wasn't able to actually go and visit these schools, I was really just having to go based on a lot of internet metrics.
00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:19.600
Um, but like it's uniform for D3 because obviously we're not a scholarship level.
00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:23.759
So everybody that's playing basketball at these schools truly loves what they're doing.
00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.000
So it really is a special environment.
00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:34.960
And I know you said like you can't say it uniformly that you're gonna have a great time at every school, but the majority of schools you probably will.
00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:46.799
So it was a lot of it was it was a lot of me being naive at 18 years old, but I just got really blessed and I got really lucky that it didn't end up hurting me.
00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:48.559
Yeah, yeah.
00:12:48.799 --> 00:13:04.720
And and you come in and you and you kind of, you know, you go from being this pretty strong high school player, um, you know, you're averaging a double double as a senior, and you come in and you know, you're you're contributing off the bench.
00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.000
As you mentioned, it was the COVID year, so you guys were pulling in guys.
00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.159
Did you have Mazio that year?
00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:11.919
No, uh my freshman year.
00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:13.039
Yeah, was that your yeah?
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:14.720
No, we didn't have him to my junior year.
00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:23.120
We had Griff Korniker from Middlebury, and we had Mitch Pendergast, my freshman year, my sophomore year.
00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:35.679
Mitch came from Mercer D1, and then our other grad transfer, my senior uh my uh freshman year, sorry, was Brian Hines, uh big man from I believe Franklin and Marshall.
00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:53.519
So you guys, you you were competing with some pretty older talent that was, you know, maybe physically more mature than you, or just, you know, had had college experience, but you still come in and you you get 17 games under your belt off the bench, you you score a couple points a game.
00:13:53.679 --> 00:14:04.080
Um, what was that first season like in terms of getting, you know, some experience, getting your feet wet at the college level, and then like adjusting to the game.
00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:05.840
What were some of the challenges there?
00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:06.559
Yeah.
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:14.639
So another piece of the story was my senior year of high school in like late January, I had a really bad ankle injury.
00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:16.159
I dislocated my ankle.
00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:28.000
So I wasn't playing basketball for about six months, and this factored a lot into my college decisions was I didn't really think I was gonna play basketball in college.
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:35.360
Like, even though I went to Case Western, I was like, all right, I'm probably gonna go here for a year and then I'll transfer to a school.
00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.039
I was probably gonna transfer to Georgia Tech and just be a student.
00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:45.679
So my experience with basketball that year was essentially just trying to have the most fun that I could.
00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:52.320
Um, and I feel like that lightheartedness really helped me out a lot because I wasn't placing so much pressure on my performance.
00:14:52.480 --> 00:15:00.720
Like I was focused on getting healthy and I was focused on just making sure that it was an enjoyable experience for that one year to see if I wanted to stay or not.
00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:13.360
Um but like selfishly, um uh or not selfishly, like I don't know if that's the proper term, but when I was in high school, I thought that I was a higher level than a division three player.
00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:15.440
Like my goal was to play in the Ivy League.
00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:20.799
So I didn't really think it was gonna be super difficult to be a productive player.
00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:33.039
And I think kind of that that naivety, that air, like a little bit of cockiness, arrogance, and confidence helped me out a lot because I kind of came into it and I was like, all right, like this shouldn't be that hard.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:38.480
Um and just based on my play style, like I'm always gonna play the right way.
00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.000
I'm gonna make open shots, I'm gonna defend, I'm gonna play hard.
00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:48.159
Um that combined with my size made it easy for me to stick out compared to the other freshmen on the team.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:56.639
And it gave me a window of opportunity to be able to slide into a game here or there where we might be missing a guy, and I just made the most of my opportunities.
00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:00.879
So yeah, my focus was just having fun and trying to contribute to winning.
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.879
Um, and thankfully I was able to do those two things for a really good team.
00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:05.440
Yeah.
00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.919
Is there value to having that mindset overall?
00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:13.519
Like how before that, were you maybe like a little more competitive, a little more like self-critical?
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:17.759
Do you think there's value to just playing lighter, or is that easier said than done?
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.519
It's much easier said than done.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.039
Like, yeah, I was definitely super serious growing up, super serious as a kid in high school too.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:33.919
Um, there was like a couple instances my senior year where I was like, all right, maybe I don't need to be like super serious, maybe I can kind of chill a little bit before a game.
00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:39.600
Um, and like I had success with that, but I also had some times where I maybe wasn't super successful.
00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.320
So it's definitely a balance that you need to find.
00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:49.600
Like I had that same level of aloofness my sophomore year, and that was an incredible year for me too.
00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.279
But then my junior year didn't work out super well.
00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.399
Um, but there was a lot of different factors that went into that.
00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:10.880
But I think for any young athlete that might be listening to this or any player in college right now, I think you need to be able to, yeah, have that balance of understanding what needs to get done and what steps need to be taken to get there.
00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:14.400
But you also have to remind yourself that like basketball is fun.
00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:21.359
And like, especially at the D3 level where you're choosing to play, like you're paying for school, like it's supposed to be an enjoyable experience for you.
00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.359
And you don't ever want to lose sight of that because you may as well not be playing.
00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:27.440
Yeah, definitely.
00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.359
Yeah, I mean, I think that's it's very true.
00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:53.920
And in the midst of like, you know, all the challenges you're gonna have in terms of um, you know, maybe you don't score well one game or you know, you get a tough grade in a class, or or you just are buried in homework uh one week, it is it is good to remember that it can be an outlet and not to be so tough on yourself and try to try to have it be a fun thing.
00:17:54.079 --> 00:18:12.079
Um, because I think every every college athlete, every basketball player has had that tough, you know, uh bus ride home from a game, or for you guys, tough flight home from a from a you know, from a weekend where you you you played the the the back-to-back schedule and and maybe you guys came away with two losses or something.
00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:18.319
Um but yeah, I think it's good, it's a good reminder just to take it in stride and and and try to enjoy it.
00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.880
Maybe, maybe you can't always be super positive.
00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:22.720
You got to be locked in sometimes.
00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.599
Um, but I think that's a good reminder.
00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:30.160
So I want to talk on the on the academic side, how did you balance it?
00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:31.920
You were a computer science major.
00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:39.359
Did you know you were gonna do that coming in, or was that something you kind of um came to as your career went on?
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:40.240
Uh yeah.
00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.519
So I I I had declared computer science like pretty early.
00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.640
Uh like I knew that's what I wanted to do going into college.
00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:50.960
I didn't make that decision until like probably right before I got there.
00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:55.440
But I knew like that summer going into it, I was like, all right, like I'm probably gonna be a computer science major.
00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:01.039
My older cousin kind of pushed me towards that direction because I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to study.
00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:08.480
Um, but yeah, going into it, I didn't really have that one year, one and a half years of being an undecided major.
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.359
Like, thankfully, like I kind of knew what track I was gonna be on.
00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:15.519
Uh, balancing it was obviously really tough at a school like Case Western.
00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.079
Like, it's insanely rigorous.
00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:31.680
But the great thing about our basketball program, um, and just D3 in general, is they know what the priority is, and they are very accommodating for the academics.
00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:37.359
Like, if you have lecture, you're supposed to be at lecture, like you shouldn't be skipping lecture to go to class.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:45.039
If you have exams, if you have uh crazy amounts of homework, things like that, like basketball is supposed to come second.
00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.119
So that balancing that made it easy.
00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:53.920
I also had uh an older teammate, he was a couple years older than me, that was also computer science, so he was able to help me out.
00:19:54.160 --> 00:20:11.920
And I think doing as best you can to make friends outside of basketball and like also within your academics, within your major, within your field, so that you can kind of depend on them a little bit for help when you need it because you're gonna be so tied up with so many different time commitments.
00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:18.000
I feel like a combination of all those things is gonna make for a successful uh experience.
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:24.319
But yeah, especially considering like the travel and everything, it was certainly tough.
00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:24.880
Yeah.
00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:31.759
Talk about that a little more, like the developing relationships outside of sports, because I think this is something a lot of kids don't take advantage of.
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.319
Where did you go for that community?
00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:39.599
You know, maybe just the computer science department, or you know, who else were you hanging out with on campus?
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:40.160
Yeah.
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:44.559
Uh this is something that I've been very big on since I was a kid.
00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.880
Is like I didn't ever want to be ever want to be known as like the basketball guy.
00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.519
Like, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm known as anyway.
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:59.200
But I've always wanted to be more well-rounded as a person than just being strictly pigeonholed into basketball.
00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:04.880
So with college specifically, it happened organically through academics, obviously.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:13.200
Uh, I made friends in the computer science field, but then also using my cultural and my religious identity to my advantage.
00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:18.559
So, me being half Pakistani, there's a Pakistani students association on my campus.
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.599
Me being Muslim, there's a Muslim Students Association on my campus.
00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:23.440
I was able to make friends through that.
00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:55.920
Um, so yeah, just having different outlets and like for somebody that maybe doesn't have the opportunity to go to a different student association, whatever hobbies you might be interested in, whether that be like film, video games, chess, whatever it could be, like there's definitely something that you can do on your campus to be involved with another group of like minded people, uh, with uh people with similar interests that also helps with the stress of playing a college sport.
00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:06.000
Because like like you mentioned, like uh There might be certain road trips you come back owing to, and it's like you just want to escape a little bit from basketball.
00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:10.319
And you know, it's hard to escape within academics because that's also a stressful thing.
00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:20.720
But like if you're able to lean on friends that aren't basketball focused, basketball-centric, and you're talking just about something completely differently, that helps out the mental so much.
00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:22.559
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:32.480
I think I think that's well said, and I think it's a good reminder for younger kids who maybe think, oh, you know, I'm just gonna be on the basketball team, that's gonna be what I do.
00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:57.920
Having that community outside of sports, not only just I think is it is a good thing to, you know, connect with other parts of you, other other, you know, interests, whether it's yeah, cultural identity, religion, hobbies, like you talked about, um, I think that's so important just for keeping balance, keeping your priorities straight, and and then just getting the most out of your college, like getting that experience um with other people and learning.
00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.519
And so I I really yeah, want to amplify that message.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:03.119
I think that's awesome that you did that.
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.359
So um you you mentioned your your half Pakistani.
00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:09.119
Uh what is the other half?
00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:14.079
Because I I seen you are playing for uh the Guyana national team.
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:18.160
So is is that um is that the other half?
00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:20.960
Or how did that how did that try out come up come about?
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:21.519
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:22.319
So that's the other half.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:28.559
So my dad was born and raised in Pakistan, um, and then my mom was born and raised in Guyana.
00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:38.319
So yeah, the Guyana national team, like that was that all happened so fast, but also it it was a it was a long process at the same time.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:47.920
So when I knew I wanted to play overseas, I was like, all right, I have this opportunity to go get a dual citizenship, which is major for anybody trying to play overseas.
00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:54.240
So that makes it to where I'm not like once again pigeonholed into being an American import.
00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.680
Like I can just be a different kind of import.
00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:58.640
You know what I'm saying?
00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:05.039
Because there's tougher limits on being an American in most leagues because of American talent being so good.
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.640
So I had tried to get my guy into passport.
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:15.599
This was March of 2025, was when I originally went and tried to apply for it.
00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:24.720
Whole bunch of different stuff uh came up to the to where I wasn't able to get it before my rookie season in Ireland, which was September of 2025.
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.359
So I was like, all right, I'll have to wait till I come back.
00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:33.839
There were still different things that were blocking me from being able to get it until I was finally able to get my passport.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:36.559
This was June 18th of 2026.
00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:40.240
So a full 15 months later, I finally got it.
00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:45.119
And once I got it, I told my agent right away, I was like, hey, I finally got the passport.
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:52.240
Uh, because like I was hoping it would be able to help me land uh an overseas contract, and thankfully it did.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:25:04.480
But another benefit from it was I didn't even know that Guyana was competing that summer, and my agent had known the new Guyana coach that they were bringing in.
00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:07.039
He already had some sort of relationship with him.
00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:16.960
So literally the next day, he's like, hey, Guyana's competing in a couple of weeks or in three weeks, you have an opportunity to try out for the team.
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:24.799
And the reason why I had to try out is because you're only allowed one player on your team that was not born in the country.
00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:31.759
So me being born in the US and getting my citizenship through my mother, I had to try out for that one specific spot.
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:38.960
So the trial process was about two weeks where I was there just practicing with the team.
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:45.599
It was a couple other guys that had fit into that same classification as I did that I was competing with.
00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:49.599
I learned that I made the team about a couple days before our game started.
00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:57.599
And then yeah, we had our four games, and it was it all happened so fast, but it was like the most incredible experience.
00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:05.279
Like it was so much fun, and it was such a blessing and such an honor to be able to represent uh just any country in international basketball play.
00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:07.519
Yeah, especially being able to represent where my mom's from.
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:08.640
That was beautiful.
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.480
Yeah, let me get that backstory.
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:12.079
I saw I saw the picture that you playing.
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:13.119
I saw the stats.
00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:23.519
It looked like you guys suited up against Bermuda and uh Antigua and Barbuda in in the FIBA America qualifiers for the Caribbean.
00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:27.119
So pretty uh, yeah, very, very cool.
00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:31.680
Anytime you can represent a country like that, especially like you said, on your mom's side.
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:32.319
So yeah.
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:35.200
It was uh sorry to cut you off.
00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.319
It was no no, please.
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:38.960
My it was my first time in Guyana.
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.720
Like I had never been there before.
00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:47.759
My sisters haven't been there, most of my cousins haven't been, and it was my mom's first time going back in almost 40 years.
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.559
Wow.
00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:55.359
So she came when when I told her that I made the team, she came and she was able to come for all four games.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:01.680
So, like her com her going back to her home country, because the games were hosted in Guyana, which was also amazing.
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:07.920
Her going back to her home country for the first time in 40 years and me being the reason why just meant so much to me.
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.000
And I'm sure it meant a lot to her as well.
00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:13.279
Yeah, I mean, that's very special to be able to share that.
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:19.200
Um, yeah, for those who don't know, uh Anna is in South America, right?
00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:26.400
Uh kind of facing the Atlantic Ocean, but uh near Venezuela and uh on the coast.
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:29.599
So I'm sure some some beautiful, beautiful coastline.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:34.559
Were you able to travel at all or uh check out the country, or were you mostly just playing?
00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.880
Uh no, yeah, it was mostly just playing.
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.279
Um we were in the capital anyway, so I was able to see like some of the city.
00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:44.319
Um, but yeah, I didn't really get to see too too much.
00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:46.480
But yeah, it was nice.
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:49.519
Yeah, fun to fun to get down there, especially with your mom.
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:52.559
Um how did you you mentioned your agent earlier?
00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:57.039
How did you find an agent out of school and and what was that process like?
00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:09.039
Yeah, so I had started, I'd kind of started this process the summer before my senior year of college, because I was like, all right, this is the goal that I'm working towards.
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:12.799
It'd be good to try to get into contact with people as early as I can.
00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:20.000
So I was reaching out to former teammates of mine that I had considered playing overseas if they had connections.
00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:29.200
I was reaching out to uh trainers that I had worked with back in Georgia, um, obviously using Todd as a reference, my head coach from Case Western.
00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:32.880
Um, just anybody that I knew that might have had connections.
00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:38.880
Um, but then I kind of put it a little bit on hold during the season.
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:45.200
Um and then after the season had ended, I was really trying to ramp that up, like trying to sign with somebody as soon as I could.
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:52.720
And I ended up signing with my agent, I believe it was late April or maybe early May, it was around that time frame.
00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:57.039
And yeah, I it was just through one of those connections.
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:00.960
So it was from my former teammate, Mitch Prennergast.
00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:02.799
I mentioned he had played at Mercer.
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:12.720
He was considering playing overseas, and he had a teammate from Mercer that was a little bit older than him, I think, who played about the same position as me.
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:14.160
He said he was similar play style.
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.880
He's like, Oh, talk to him, he might have some people.
00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:22.960
So then he connected me to like three different agents and was like, Oh, reach out to all of them.
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:31.759
Um, and out of all the people I'd reached out to, I had messaged like a good bit of agents, only one of them was really consistent uh talking to me.
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:40.960
And because I was very new to the game, obviously, I didn't know what exactly I should be looking for in an agent.
00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:54.240
But so yeah, I didn't know what I was looking for in an agent exactly, and there was obviously some skepticism before I'm putting my pen to paper and signing anything, but especially with that, there was some skepticism.
00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:59.200
It was like, all right, I'm putting my trust in this person to be able to help me fulfill my dream.
00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:07.200
But because there was only one guy that was really consistent communicating with me, I was like, I'd be stupid to not go where I'm wanted.
00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:09.279
So I was like, all right, I'm just gonna trust this.
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:12.799
If he believes in me, I'm gonna sign with him, and it's been good.
00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:13.599
It's been great.
00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:15.359
Yeah, I think that's a good thing.
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:20.000
Just just like just like recruiting, you know, go where you're wanted.
00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:23.920
Don't don't chase something that that isn't, they aren't reciprocating that interest.
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:28.480
Um so I think that's a good good takeaway for people listening to this.
00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:34.079
Um that's the same approach that I've taken to signing contracts now, is going where I'm wanted.
00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:42.400
Like the team that I played for in Ireland, like they they absolutely loved everything about me before I had signed, and then when I was there, it made for a great experience.
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:52.960
And I know it's early on while I'm here in Spain, but before I'd signed the contract, like the coach and the president of the team, like they were very adamant about the fact that they really wanted me.
00:30:53.200 --> 00:31:02.880
So yeah, for high school players looking at colleges, like there's gonna be a level of like fluff that a coach is gonna try to sell you on their school.
00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:12.799
But if you can feel any sort of like genuine love coming from them, that they really want you there and that they think that you're gonna be able to succeed there, don't take that for granted.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:13.680
Definitely.
00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:15.440
Yeah, I think that is a gift.
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:30.319
Like anytime a coach is taking that time to look at you because they're getting, especially at a school like Case, or you know, you were looking at MIT, they're getting 50 plus emails a day from kids, or they're getting blown up through DMs.
00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:34.720
And so if they're taking the time to look at you, that is that is really an opportunity.
00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:37.839
So I think that's something not to take for granted.
00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.960
Um yeah, I want to talk about your your kind of pro career.
00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:56.240
You you mentioned it a little bit, but and I know you've posted on this some, but you were definitely like you talked about hitting open shots, but you were definitely you've always been a defensive player, like always had the blocks.
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:03.119
Um what advice would you have for kind of younger players in terms of getting on the court?
00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:07.519
And and you know, most people don't want to play defense.
00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:15.519
Is that something you hung your hat on that that you felt like has given you opportunities to both now play internationally and play uh as a pro overseas?
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:16.960
Yeah, certainly.
00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:21.599
Like I know I'm blessed because I'm 6'6 and I have a seven-foot wingspan.
00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:31.839
So like it's a little bit easier for me to be able to make those defensive plays, but you're essentially gonna be able to play at the level that you can defend at.
00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:40.480
Like maybe you can go a little bit higher if your offensive skill set is really like that special, or if you have a specific skill set that is so special on offense.
00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:46.319
Like if you're an elite elite shooter or playmaker, then maybe you could play at a level higher than you could defend at.
00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:52.880
But for the most part, like you're gonna be within like punching range of where you can defend at.
00:32:53.200 --> 00:33:03.920
And same thing with the offensive skill set, like you might be able to get on the court because you have it, but you're not gonna stay on the court if you don't have any, if you don't have that defensive capability.
00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:09.279
And it's a different thing being just a neutral defender and being a positive defender.
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:16.160
Because when you're a positive defender, that's also another factor that a coach can have to trust you.
00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:22.559
Um, and it allows you to play with a little bit more freedom, a little bit less stress offensively.
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:30.319
Um, but yeah, like for me personally, that's something yeah, I've I've definitely hung my hat on.
00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:41.279
Um, like in college, my main thing was especially before I had had like offensive responsibility, like my freshman year, my sophomore year.
00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:44.400
I know my sophomore year, I averaged, I think it was 13.
00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:52.079
Like I was definitely a big time piece in our offense, but that wasn't something that I put so much pressure on.
00:33:52.240 --> 00:34:01.359
My my mindset those first couple years, and also my junior year was I'm gonna come in and I'm going to make athletic plays all around the court.
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:04.400
I'm gonna try to fly around, I'm gonna try to make athletic plays.
00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:16.000
Um, and I think just having that kind of simplistic mindset towards just the game in general, but like especially defense, makes it easy for you to stand out.
00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:24.159
And it's gonna make it easy for a coach to look down the line, look down the bench, and be like, okay, we can we can trust him out there on the court.
00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:25.920
Like we don't have to worry about him.
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:27.599
Yeah, I like that.
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:33.039
And especially at the D3 level, 6'6, 7 foot wingspan, you're gonna be contesting a lot of shots.
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:36.800
Um, so yeah, I mean, I think it's a good reminder.
00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:38.719
Keep it simple, do what you do well.
00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:42.320
You don't have to do everything, you don't have to be a 30-point scorer to get on the court.
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:44.400
But as you mentioned, that's a good anecdote.
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:51.119
Like when the coach looks down the bench, they're making a split-second decision about who they can trust, who they need out there.
00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:57.280
And if you're that person who does their job, you're gonna get the call more often than not.
00:34:57.599 --> 00:34:57.840
Yeah.
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:11.440
And like above all else, like the why I have the confidence that I think I'm gonna be able to keep leveling up in my professional career is I just have the mindset that I'm going to do whatever I can to impact winning.
00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:23.679
So whatever that looked like that looks like for you might be different than the next person, but for the most part, defense is that's going to be a staple for every single person, is how well can you defend?
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:29.360
That is going to impact your ability to impact winning, and that's going to help carry you throughout your career.
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.440
Yeah, great message.
00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:32.320
Yeah.
00:35:32.639 --> 00:35:39.360
So um just to kind of close out the conversation here, you're two games into this this season in Spain.
00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:44.880
What have been, or what are you some of your goals, I guess, for this year um with your new team?
00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:52.320
And uh, because you started off strong, uh, 17 points and 12 boards, and then 10 points and seven boards in your first two games.
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.119
So what are some of your kind of goals for this season?
00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:02.480
Yeah, so in the immediate, right now, my short-term goal is to continue adjusting to the play style and adjusting to the pace.
00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:07.360
Uh, it's definitely a faster pace than everywhere else I've played.
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:15.360
Um, like when I was playing in Guyana, like the Caribbean, they play a very athletic style of basketball, but it's still not as fast, I would say.
00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:28.880
Um, definitely a faster pace, but um not that I feel out of place playing uh at a faster rate, but still just getting adjusted to that to like I really feel comfortable in it.
00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:46.079
And like I know this is kind of like a I don't know what the proper term is, but like being able to get to the point where I can slow down in that faster pace, where like I can really feel comfortable and the game feels more like I'm reading it as as opposed to reacting to it.
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.800
Um, that's kind of what I'm focused on now.
00:36:48.880 --> 00:37:00.639
But as far as like season goals, uh our team, we we believe that we could get promoted to the next league, um, which would require us to win our our conference right now.
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:03.199
Um, so that's something that we're focused on.
00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:11.280
And then me on an individual level, uh, I just want to do everything that I can to prove that I can play at a higher level than where I'm at right now.
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:24.400
So proving that I can be a three-level score, proving that I can be a knockdown shooter and that I could defend multiple positions, um, it's pretty much going to be the same thing for me wherever I go, uh, focusing on those things.
00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:30.400
But yeah, just keeping it simple, but also showing that I've been able to expand my game.
00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:32.079
Yeah.
00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.079
And then what about uh off the court?
00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:41.519
I know I've I've talked to some D3 athletes who have gone to play pro and they they kind of work a little, they do an internship maybe on the side.
00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:44.559
Are you using that comp site degree at all right now in your off time?
00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:50.559
So last year when I was in Ireland, I was I was working a part-time job for a startup.
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:55.440
I was doing some contract work, and that was for about like three, three and a half months.
00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:59.199
As of now, I don't have anything, but I got a couple things in the works.
00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:07.360
Um, myself and a former teammate from Case Western, we're trying to build out an application that hopefully we'll be able to launch sometime soon.
00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:11.360
Um, it's it's related to basketball, so that's gonna be exciting.
00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:18.000
And then just I know you had mentioned before about me posting on social media, like continuing to try to build up my personal brand.
00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:26.880
Um, I'm more focused now on trying to um gear my content towards helping younger players.
00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:37.119
Um, and I'm hoping to be able to uh be a mentor to a few or to some and help them reach their goals, help them get uh get better at specific things.
00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:45.440
And yeah, just working on those two things is what I've been taking up more of my time outside of the actual basketball requirements.
00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.239
Where should people follow you for those updates?
00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:50.559
Uh on my Instagram, uh Umar.
00:38:54.239 --> 00:38:57.039
Rashid uh has two D's on the end.
00:38:57.360 --> 00:38:57.599
Yeah.
00:38:57.840 --> 00:38:58.320
Great.
00:38:58.719 --> 00:38:59.119
All right.
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.039
Now, final question we guys have ever guests.
00:39:01.119 --> 00:39:06.000
Uh, if you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self, what advice would you give 18-year-old umar?
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:08.400
What advice would I give?
00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:15.760
Oh, there's a lot.
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:18.320
I'm trying to keep it short.
00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:30.000
Um like put in everything that you can.
00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:38.159
Put in everything that you can, like, especially because there's so much more you can get out of it than you think.
00:39:38.400 --> 00:39:44.079
Like when I was 18 years old, I didn't realize that you could go on to play professionally out of a D3.
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:50.800
I didn't realize that you could go on and get a chance at the NBA like Toby Harris, like Hank Morgan.
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:56.000
Um I didn't realize that you can really make a name for yourself.
00:39:56.159 --> 00:40:03.119
You can really do great things with basketball if you treat it like it should be treated.
00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:08.480
Like I didn't put in as much time and as much effort as I should have when I was in college.
00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:16.800
And that's something that I don't necessarily regret because I know my life is playing out exactly as like God wants it to.
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:18.800
But it's something that I think about.
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:22.639
I was like, if I was 18 years old again, I would have definitely done that differently.
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:31.519
Because the yeah, this game can carry you so far, this game can open so many doors for you on the court, off the court, whatever.
00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:42.320
Um, but if you put in that intention, you put in that genuine hard work into it, then that's the only way you're gonna be able to see those types of uh benefits.
00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:45.039
So yeah, uh put in everything that you can.
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:46.719
That would that would be my answer.
00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:48.480
Don't take it for granted.
00:40:48.559 --> 00:40:50.639
You only get one, you only get one pass through life.
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:52.639
So yeah, um, great advice.
00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:55.199
And Umar, thanks for joining the program, man.
00:40:55.440 --> 00:40:57.039
Yeah, thanks for having me.
00:40:57.280 --> 00:40:57.679
All right.
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:05.519
Well, like he he mentioned, go check out his uh updates on his pro career, uh, what he's up to off the court.
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:09.440
And uh that's both on Instagram and TikTok.
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:11.039
And thanks for listening.
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:16.079
This has been a conversation with former Case Western men's basketball standout, Umar Rashid.
00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:22.239
He is in his second year overseas playing in Spain, and I'm sure uh there'll be many more beyond that.
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:29.679
So make sure to check out previous episodes wherever you listen on Spotify or Apple and let us know who you want to talk to next.
00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:31.360
We'll be back with more soon.
