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Rebels with a Cause
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Written by Vanna Keomisy
Photo Illustration by Thanh Ly
“My big dream, since I’ve had since I was a little kid, was to play professional basketball,” Naidoo said. “I’m thinking it just depends on how hard I work. How much I’m willing to sacrifice to get to that level.”
According to the NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association, an estimate of about 3.1 percent of high school senior boys playing basketball move on to play at the college, or NCAA, level. The probability, as a NCAA athlete, to play in a professional men’s basketball league is even less with a 1.2 percent chance. But counselor Sally Wooly believes professions, like athletes or musicians, need a back up plan.
“Pursue your passion if you need to pursue it,” Wooly said. “A lot of people spend years working towards [their] goal. But have a back-up plan that’s related [to your passion].”
According to Wooly, students should look into what schools and programs their college of choice offers in order for them to work towards their passion. This year, he has been approached by about three colleges and has been invited to workouts every Sunday at theDallasChristianCollege. He attended a basketball workshop this past summer inChicago, exposing himself to different colleges.
“Learning from the camp, I realized that whether you [perform well or not during a game], just me going out there and taking that chance was an opportunity that could basically help me in the future,” Naidoo said.
There have been others who have discouraged him however, such as close family members telling him that he would not be playing basketball in the future and instead end up working at Wendy’s. The negativity, however, is a driving force to make him work harder to prove them wrong.
“There are a lot of people that tell you things like, ‘You’re not going to be able to play college basketball here’ or ‘You’re not going to do that great’,” Naidoo said. “A lot of my coaches told me that you can’t let that get to your head.”
Even though his dream is to continue to play basketball, he has a back up plan to get a degree in finance or business. But Naidoo chooses to take a different career path from the rest of his family. He wants to do something different rather than going into the medical or law field like most of his family members. His parents encouraged him to pursue a different career. His mother wanted him to go into the medical field while his dad wanted him to live out his personal dream of joining the Army or Air Force.
“They didn’t think I’d be playing basketball in college,” Naidoo said. “They just wanted me to go to college and get a degree. Now, they’re more supportive towards me. Even though they know it is not the safest career path, they see that I put passion towards it.”
After being approached by colleges and making varsity, his family, including his parents, have become more supportive of his endeavors. His mother even attended the workshop inChicagowith him and watched him play. But the backbone of how Naidoo started becoming serious about persevering college basketball is due to his older sister, alumna Valencia Naidoo. She had pushed him to contact the colleges first instead of vice versa, convincing him to present his skills to them.
“She was the reason I put myself out there,” Naidoo said. “She said ‘hey, let’s be real about this and show coaches films of your games, email them and contact them through phone’. She really showed me that I have to go and pursue the colleges I want.”
But Naidoo’s biggest role model, the person who had pushed his dream of playing professionally, wasValencia’s friend and alumnus, Kola Togunde. The summer before Togunde was preparing to go off to play college basketball inCalifornia, Togunde had asked Naidoo to attend his work outs with him. For Naidoo, it had become the hardest summer of his life. He had even given up a couple of times, but eventually motivated himself to keep going. He looked up to Togunde and was able to learn from the mistakes he made and better himself.
“This dream with having playing basketball professionally, it started to come alive,” Naidoo said. “I was like ‘Hey, I could actually do what I want to do,’ if I work hard at it and have faith in what I do and believe in myself. He taught me about work ethic and how you have to really work hard to be one of the best basketball players. He’s the one I give a lot of credit to. He always will be.”
But after leaving for college, Togunde had changed his career plans to pursue music instead of basketball, upsetting Naidoo. However, Togunde’s new career choice did not discourage Naidoo but instead motivated him to do anything but quit.
“In my time, being with [Togunde], if you’re going to do something you love, you might as well do it to the fullest,” Naidoo said. “He got me that far. Look how far I’ve gotten to this day. I just think I might as well pursue it while I can.”
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