Nigerian Soccer Lover Becomes Canes Basketball Star
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Tonye Jekiri stands just under 7-feet tall, and is a true sophomore on the University of Miami's basketball team. Jekiri, who was born and raised in Nigeria, only became interested in the sport after a renown basketball coach in Nigeria spotted him.
Jekiri's first love was always soccer, "All I ever dreamed about was playing professional soccer in Europe."
But after learning how to dribble some, he attended a basketball camp, where his raw ability to run, block shots and grab rebounds got him noticed and ultimately earned him a scholarship to Champagnat Catholic High in Hialeah.
From there it was on to the University of Miami, where although Coach Jim Larranaga said Jekiri is still playing catch up to a degree, he believes Jekiri's potential is promising.
"His ceiling is very high he hasn't come close to scratching the surface of that ceiling so we expect him to just get better and better," Larranaga said.
Jekiri said being where he is now doing what is doing is miraculous.
"It's a miracle because my mom had been praying for me that one day I would change," said after explaining how he'd often get spankings as a child for skipping class to play soccer.
Despite being relatively new to the sport, Jekiri now dreams of one day playing in the NBA and being able to give back to kids in his hometown in Nigeria.
"If you could just teach them how to dribble the ball because running is not something you are going to teach the people back home because they already know how to do that," Jekiri said with a smile.
Jekiri, who is one of five siblings, said he is very happy and thankful for the opportunity to prove himself as a ball player and a good son.
"I feel like I'm the one they love most now," he said while laughing.
