What made you decide to attend Hofstra?
Even though I played on a very good high school team and a really good AAU team, I wasn’t very heavily recruited for whatever reason. I actually called Hofstra to ask them to recruit me. Jay Wright was the head coach at the time, he had some really talented players that were at my position, and he didn’t think I would fit into the role my position played. So I had reached out to my high school coach Jack Ringel to see if he could call Hofstra and see if they would be interested in me.
I had two other offers from Cleveland State and East Carolina, but I wanted to stay close and go to a local school. A friend and teammate of mine, Roberto Gittens, had also signed with Hofstra, and I wanted to play with him as well. Jack Ringel called and spoke to Jay Wright about recruiting me, and coach Wright was reluctant at first, but he eventually came to see me play. I don’t remember playing well, but what stood out to coach Wright when he spoke to me was that I played hard and I got to the free-throw line. He took a chance on me, and he offered me a scholarship.
When I was offered, I was playing basketball on my neighborhood court and the Hofstra coaches brought the National Letter of Intent for me to sign because I had never been to Hempstead. I signed the letter on the back of a friend’s car.
What is your favorite memory from playing at Hofstra?
I have two, and they’re both times we won the America East Championships. It was a special group of guys that we were able to accomplish that with. We’re all still very close to this day, we speak fairly regularly. Whenever we see each other, it’s like we haven’t missed a day. Those are two very special memories of my time at Hofstra that I’ll never forget.