The Transition into Athletics

I’ve always played recreational sports. In Nigeria, Everybody played soccer. Even if we didn’t have a ball we would wrap up paper with rubber bands…good times. Here in the U.S, everywhere I went people were playing basketball. I fell in love with basketball and started playing almost everyday. I am especially known for my dunks and hops. People would refer to me as the “African guy who can jump really high and dunk. “

I attended Merritt College in Oakland, California. I was very athletic so I decided to tryout for the basketball team at my college as a walk on. I surprisingly made the team. Although it was challenging because I never played organized basketball, and I had to get used to the rules, regulations, drills, plays, etc. I wasn’t one of the best players on the team, but I usually played because of my athleticism and jumping ability to grab rebounds.

How I became a high jumper

In between basketball seasons I wanted to stay in shape so I decided to join the track and field team where some of my teammates encouraged me to try the High jump and also the track coaches wanted to see how high I could jump. It looked pretty interesting so I decided to try it. I jumped 6’ 4” (1.95m) and they were all amazed and cheering because I had no prior experience with the high jump.

And that’s how it all started….
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