The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 5, 2010 Page: 14 of 16
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14 FEATURES
the Rice Thresher
Friday, February 5,2010
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FACING
THE m
IlHi
ORY BY YAN DIG
LAYOUT BY ERIC D<
& DAVE ROSALES
■'Wm
Coming from wildly different backgrounds, freshmen Arsalan Kazemi (left) and
Tamir Jackson (right) are reforming the look of Rice men's basketball
It is a cold July day in Auckland, New
Zealand, but Arsalan Kazemi is sweltering,
sweating after sprinting up and down a lac-
quered basketball floor. Kazemi, playing for
the Iranian squad in the FIBA Under-19 World
Championship, steps to the free throw line and
calmly sinks a pair, padding his 23-point, nine-
rebound performance and sealing a 93-53 win
over Syria.
On the other side of the globe, some 7,000
miles away, Tamir Jackson finishes his routine
at Tudor Fieldhouse by draining 10 free throws
in a row before walking into Houston's intermi-
nable, indomitable 100-degree summer heat, a
forceful reminder that his new home is nothing
like the New Jersey of his youth.
Two players. Two nations. One massive ad-
justment.
Now, adjustment is a common theme for any
incoming freshman, be they athletes or mechan-
ical engineers, and it was something Kazemi
and Jackson were both readily expecting.
But at summer's end, these two young
basketball talents would begin a pro-
cess better likened to a pre-arranged
marriage than to a mere change.
As Jackson grew accustomed to
Houston's summer heat and Kazemi be-
gan feeling the pressures of being the
first Iranian national to earn a Divi-
sion basketball scholarship, time
was winding down to the start of the
school year. And with the end of sum-
mer came an end to part of their indi-
vidual identities, because once the
school year began, one could hardly
be mentioned without the other in the
same breath.
A hardwood connection
Before they ever connected for a fast
break dunk or high-post pick and roll,
Jackson and Kazemi stayed in touch
throughout their senior year of high
school, sharing their expectations
and dreams of becoming the future
leaders of Ben Braun's men's bas-
ketball squad.
In his senior year at The Pat-
terson School in Lenoir, N.C.,
Kazemi garnered as much media
attention for his stellar dunks as he
did for being an Iranian playing ball
in the United States. At the same time,
Jackson was vying for leadership of
a storied St. Benedict's Preparatory
School program in Newark, N.J., a
squad that was consistently named one of the
top 10 teams in the nation.
Once they both declared their intention to
become Owls, their fates were sealed. In his his-
tory as an NCAA coach, Braun had built a repu-
tation for building programs out of squalor, and
his work at Rice — just one year removed from a
3-27 record — began with these two men as the
cornerstone of his vision.
After a few long-distance conversations be-
forehand, Kazemi's and Jackson's paths finally
converged in August after a year of anticipation,
and both were made residents of the newly
formed McMurtry College.
"My first impression was that it was going to
be just books and studying," Jackson said. "But
Orientation Week was a lot of fun. It was a fun
experience getting to know my peers and get-
ting some fan support."
While the fun and excitement of college life be-
gan, the expectations on the court were
rapidly mounting. Rice's
most solid perform-
er and point g d
Foster,
■
thresher file photo
grabbing a rebound and sprinting down the
court looking for a quick dish. It's a play that
he's minted and, more often than not, results in
a breathtaking slam.
But his skill set is not limited to sticky hands
and supreme showmanship. He has above-aver-
age ball-handling, and in that game against Syr-
ia, Kazemi — who captained his national squad
in the FIBA tournament with a team-leading
16 points per game — also had only one turn-
over to five assists, a ratio that would give any
point guard a grin.
"You know, overseas I could play point
guard," he said. "That's what I did for my na-
tional team, but not here."
No, being a point guard in the United States
is a bit of a stretch for him. Instead, Kazemi is
being asked to develop his strength and low-
post game in order to fully utilize his athleti-
cism around the rim.
"He has an overseas type of game, but
basketball is just
V
so Jackson,
-~r The Newark
L Star-Ledger's
New Jersey Player
of the Year, had his work
cut out for him. And the
team's low post, long a
questionable commodity,
desperately needed the
jump-start that Kazemi
could bring.
As much eagerness as
there was around these two
incoming players, no one
could have expected the
style and results that they
would bring. A large por-
tion of that uncertainty
comes from the simple
fact that Braun had cho-
sen to put together a
kind of tandem no one
had ever seen before.
Ti) Complementing
' * the styles
How do you guard a
6*7" power forward that
is able to combine skillful
smoothness with the ability
to rouse a crowd with a monster
jam? It was a question that has gone
unanswered throughout Rice's season
— the freshman is averaging 11 points and
nine rebounds a game - and was on full dis-
play in the team's first games back in Novem-
ber, when he was still an unknown to most of
the Rice community.
"I knew I was going to pick Rice," Kazemi
said. "I love Rice, especially having an academ-
ic college where I can also play basketball. And
I love Houston. It is more like my country. I like
the warm [weather] better."
Kazemi, typically mind-mannered and fair-
ly reserved, took many aback when he first leapt
into the air against Sacramento State, violently
all the same,
Jackson said.
"Put points on
the board, get
rebounds and get
stops. It is nice watching him
play and seeing how athletic he is
and how smart he is on the floor."
Where Kazemi's game looks
distinctly like it came from
overseas, Jackson has
exhibited a thor-
oughly Ameri-
can, ahead- 'V.
of-the-
curve style
of leader-
ship at the
point. Soft
hands and
a keen eye
complement
an uncanny
ability to score
and belie a
toughness that
isn't often seen. It
is the kind of hard-
nosed basketball
that the United
States is known
for: athletic guys
I
/
barreling to the bucket, doing whatever it takes
to put points on the board.
Global leadership
Because of Kazemi's background, the Ira-
nian has garnered national attention from
Sports Illustrated and ESPN. But true fans of
Rice basketball have invested more interest in
the trust between the point guard and his post-
man, knowing that that is the story line truly
worth following.
Coming from such vastly different back-
grounds — culturally, athletically, spiritually —
the two have jumped right into their rhythm as
the leaders of their team.
And it is a combination that has proven to
be brilliant. The two freshmen sit atop the stat
column for the Owls in scoring, and while the
team's record (7-14,1-7 Conference USA) doesn't
reflect the strides that they have made in
their first D-I experiences, it does
not take a fortune teller to tell you
these guys will be dangerous.
But there's only one way to
get to the future, and that road
runs through the present. Despite
a solid start to the season, the Owls
just reached their first road win on
Saturday, snapping a seven-
game losing streak.
"It would be nice to win
every game you play, but it
makes them tougher, going
through the trenches and
building back up," junior
center Trey Stanton said.
History has shown,
though, that the tribulations
of a struggling team give rise
to the greatest of names. Jar-
ett Dillard, Morris Almond,
Lance Berkman and Valeriya
Berezhynska are all Rice ath
letes that have attained nearly
immortal status for taking
their respective programs,
struggling though they were,
to unforeseen heights.
And now it's Kazemi's
and Jackson's turn. In just
their first season as Owls,
the two have repeatedly heard
their names chanted in the
crowd. But it remains to be
seen if those names will be-
come more than a tempo-
rary rallying cry, or if those
names will rise to join the
immortal ranks, forever
emblazoned among the
; banners drifting from
Tudor's rafters. Whatever
the result, it is clear that
they will be at the final
destination together.
&
WANT MORE?
Watch the video interview of the Rice phenoms
at www.ricethresher.org
V v<
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 5, 2010, newspaper, February 5, 2010; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443208/m1/14/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.