School: Eastside
Year: Senior
Position: Guard/forward
Jersey number: 24
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 170 pounds
A rea basketball player I would pay to watch play: Jimmy Johnson (teammate) since I’ve known him for a long time. He can really shoot the ball and keeps us in games a lot of the time.
B est movie I’ve ever seen: “The Lion King,” that’s a classic.
C oach Pop Williams’ best words of advice for me: Make your free throws and take care of the ball.
D inner on an ideal night: I would probably like to eat at home because my mom is a really good cook. My favorite is cornbread.
E arliest sports memory? Playing at the YMCA with a bunch of my kindergarten friends. We were playing soccer.
F avorite basketball player growing up? Rajon Rondo for the Celtics.
G ame-winning basket, block or rebound, which do you prefer? Basket ... it always feels good to make a basket. Feel most people would remember you scoring a basket at the end of a game.
H appiest day in my life was when ... a couple of weeks ago when we beat GHS, that was a happy moment. I don’t know if it was the happiest moment in my life, but it is the first thing that comes to mind.
I nteresting thing about me away from basketball: I am in the IB program, and I’m graduating this year.
J oker on the team: Probably Emontea (Shannon) and Erskine (Lee). Anything they do is pretty much funny. They could do normal things and find a way to make it funny.
K ey to juggling sports and academics: It is time management. You can’t be on your phone all the time. When you are not doing your homework or playing sports you need to find time to sleep so you can manage yourself and be on top of your work or anything else.
L east favorite sport to watch: Golf.
M usic I enjoy listening to: Rap, I like Lil Uzi Vert.
N ickname? Not really.
O ne person in my life who inspires me most: My mom, she has always been there for me, and I love her a lot.
P otential college major: Accounting.
Q uiet time activity: Just chilling on my phone in bed.
R easons why Eastside dominated Gainesville in first matchup this season (73-53) at Santa Fe College, ending a six-game losing streak to the Hurricanes? Game before we lost in triple overtime to North Marion, so we were looking to bounce back. We knew it was a really big game for us and we haven’t beaten them since I’ve been in high school. So it was really important that we went out there and hit them first before they hit us.
Note: The two teams meet again at Santa Fe College on Feb. 9
S neaker choice — Jordan, Nike, Adidas, Under Armour or Reebok? Nike.
T oughest moment of my high school career ... losing last year in the playoffs to Palatka. I didn’t make a lot of my free throws. I felt if I had made more we probably would have won. They made it to state, too, so it was significant.
U niversities or colleges I am considering: UF and UNC.
V acation spot I love: Orlando because I’ve been there the most times.
W hat will it take for the Rams to make a return trip to state tournament in Lakeland? We have to make sure everyone stays healthy, everyone’s grades are on point so they are not ineligible to play, and play at a high level.
Note: Eastside last went to state tournament in 2014, winning school’s only boys basketball state title in 2006 (Class 5A).
X box, PlayStation or Wii?: I have a PS4 and a Wii, so I do both I guess.
Y ear I was born: 1999.
Z oo animal I like most: Cheetah, because they used to call me a cheetah chaser in eighth grade because I was fast. My parents are from Africa and cheetahs are from Africa too.