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Before we start shredding the kid too much, let's make sure we keep his poor play on the court Samajae apart from Samajae the young man.
This kid has been through more than any ten of us combined. No father in his life, lost his mother to cancer when he was in high school, had nowhere to live so his coach took him in.
His lack of adult involvement (Mom was always working and then became sick) in his life created a loss of focus on everything but basketball to the point where he struggled badly in the classroom until his senior year in which he at least made good enough grades to graduate and play at Hutch. Because of his lack of foundation in academics, school will always be a challenge for him.
Finally, he was brought here to really be a two guard with the ability to fill in at the point for short duration's. Once Coach told me they expected him to bring instant energy and some offense off the bench. Now, two years later, he is expected to fill a role that he was really not recruited for and the perfect storm of unfortunate events (Shamet going pro, AR transferring, Lomax bailing) has caused him to be there. He could have bailed, quit school as he probably is not fond of it, or transferred to a small school and left the team and the fan base in a bigger mess in the off season
Samajae is 80% there to becoming a great success story, one where basketball has led him out of the darkness of a miserable life into one of hope and being a productive citizen making a difference in the community. I hope it is basketball that helps him get the other 20% to that future and not the discouragement of this season that prevents it.
So yes Samajae was not good last night. But let us never confuse the difference between Samajae the player and Samajae the person.
This kid has been through more than any ten of us combined. No father in his life, lost his mother to cancer when he was in high school, had nowhere to live so his coach took him in.
His lack of adult involvement (Mom was always working and then became sick) in his life created a loss of focus on everything but basketball to the point where he struggled badly in the classroom until his senior year in which he at least made good enough grades to graduate and play at Hutch. Because of his lack of foundation in academics, school will always be a challenge for him.
Finally, he was brought here to really be a two guard with the ability to fill in at the point for short duration's. Once Coach told me they expected him to bring instant energy and some offense off the bench. Now, two years later, he is expected to fill a role that he was really not recruited for and the perfect storm of unfortunate events (Shamet going pro, AR transferring, Lomax bailing) has caused him to be there. He could have bailed, quit school as he probably is not fond of it, or transferred to a small school and left the team and the fan base in a bigger mess in the off season
Samajae is 80% there to becoming a great success story, one where basketball has led him out of the darkness of a miserable life into one of hope and being a productive citizen making a difference in the community. I hope it is basketball that helps him get the other 20% to that future and not the discouragement of this season that prevents it.
So yes Samajae was not good last night. But let us never confuse the difference between Samajae the player and Samajae the person.
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