In My Words | Sekou Dembele
12/23/2018 | 2:39:00 | Men's Basketball
I almost didn't play basketball.
I come from a teacher's family. My mom and dad both work at a school in Mali, and that's the most important thing. I played soccer growing up, and everyone kept telling me, 'You're tall; you should play basketball.' I started playing only on the weekends, and my mom didn't really want me to play. She thought basketball and school wasn't possible together, and I didn't know either. I just wanted to play.
On the weekends, one of my coaches kept wanting me to play every day, but I told him with my mom, no way. I finally convinced her, but she said if I didn't keep getting good grades, I would have to quit. I kept playing because I kept getting good grades.
I got to play on my country's national team in 10th grade. I had only been playing for two years, but that was really good for me. I got to play against really good players. We went to the African championship and finished in third place. The next year, we went to the world championship, and I played really well. To improve myself against those good players, I had to work really hard, and now I'm here.
I would talk to my friends who came to America and got scholarships. I thought maybe I could do it, but didn't really know. After I played well at the world championships, it became a possibility. The first thing my mom said: 'Are you going to study?' In my country, school and basketball are separate. She was worried about it. Even now, I talk to her once a week on FaceTime, and the first thing she asks about is school.
I barely spoke any English when I came here. I knew a little bit, but it was like if you took a French class here in America and then went to Mali. When I came here, everyone talked too fast. I didn't understand much. I actually asked one of my friends, who came here before me, 'How do you understand what they're saying?' It took some time. When you're in a country where nobody speaks your language, you don't have a choice. You have to learn it.
Besides the language, the winters were the biggest shock. I was in Birmingham, and people would tell me it's not that cold there. It was cold for me. Here at SIU, I called Kaila, our academic advisor, and told her I didn't know how people went to school when it's so cold. She helped me get through it.
When I was at Birmingham, I came to a camp at SIU. My coach, Scott, told me I could be great here. I remember going to Coach Hinson's office, and he showed me a diploma. He said, 'This is the most important thing.' I said, 'My mom would love this.' And the coaches were always smiling, which was good for me. I'm always in a good mood. What is there to be mad about?
I'm redshirting this year, but I'm always learning. The biggest thing for me is to be there for my teammates. I support them all I can.
I'm going to keep working to improve myself so that I can do something great. That's why I'm here. I traveled 16 hours to be here. I cannot go easy on the court. I left my family and came here for this. I can't give up and go slow. That's a waste of time. I miss my family all the time, but I came here for basketball, so I have to be great.
Sekou
