Majok Getting Ready For UConn Debut
Topics
Basketball
University of Connecticut
XL Center
See more topics »
XJim Calhoun
NCAA Final Four
Schools
Football
National Collegiate Athletic Association
NBA By MIKE ANTHONY
December 11, 2009
E-mail Print Share Text Size
HARTFORD — - Ater Majok understands a great deal of pressure and expectations are tied to his long-awaited debut Dec. 20, and he's fine with that.
The UConn freshman forward, having practiced and watched from the sidelines for a year as fans wondered about his potential, knows about the hype, the opportunity and even the burden of being viewed as the answer to some of UConn's problems.
"The year has run by quickly, but I feel like the last 10 days, it's probably the longest 10 days ever because I just can't wait," Majok said Thursday at coach Jim Calhoun's holiday turkey giveaway at the North End Senior Center. "I can't wait to step onto the court. I can't wait to put on my white uniform next weekend at the XL Center and show everybody what I've got, what I have to offer. People are expecting things from me. But I'm the one playing and I'm just going to go out every day and do what I do in practice. My focus is not to get out there and show off. My focus is to help win some games."
Majok, 22, enrolled at UConn in January but was told he could not play until the conclusion of this semester. Meanwhile, he has practiced with the team, watched road games on TV and home games from the bench.
In nine days, he will make his debut against Central Florida — and he could be in the starting lineup in place of Charles Okwandu.
"I've never had a problem with [waiting for Majok]," Calhoun said. "He didn't sit out because he had a bad attitude. He didn't sit out because he didn't do well in school. He sat out, quite frankly, because the NCAA couldn't make its mind up."
There was more mystery regarding Majok's status recently. Because he entered the NBA draft and pulled out, Calhoun said, Majok was put through another screening by the NCAA. Calhoun said UConn was notified Wednesday night that Majok will, indeed, be allowed to play.
"He's completely cleared," Calhoun said, noting that Majok had to, for example, show receipts as proof that he paid for things during the draft process. "He'll have no issues. Nothing is going to pop up, in a sense that he's gone through all the things he has to."
So now, how does Majok, a 6-foot-11 forward, fit in with UConn?
"I don't know what my role is going to be," he said. "I don't know how many minutes I'm going to get. I don't know if I'm going to start or not. I don't know any of that. But I'll guarantee you, though, no matter how much I play and how many minutes I get, I'm going to play hard as hell and make the team better."
The No.14 Huskies, 6-2 after Wednesday's 64-61 loss to No.4 Kentucky, desperately need help up front. UConn has few options beyond Alex Oriakhi and Gavin Edwards, who will no longer have to play as many minutes.
Bottom line, if Majok is at all serviceable, he will be a tremendous asset.
"I have confidence that he'll make a difference," Calhoun said. "How big a difference? Well, if he can come out and jump right into it right away, that's great. But if he can't, he'll still make a difference."
Essentially, Calhoun isn't sure that Majok will be a star. But he's pretty sure he won't be a bust. Majok, from Sudan via Australia, hasn't played much organized basketball — compared to American high school and AAU players, anyway — and next to none in the last couple of years. But Calhoun has seen enough in practice to know that, while there will be adjustments and mistakes made, Majok can contribute.
"The best single thing about his game right now — beyond the fact that he has ability and size — is that he has an incredible engine, a motor," Calhoun said. "I would think that only Kemba [Walker] plays with the same tenacity, consistently."
Majok said he has improved over the last year, that he sees the game in a different way and finds himself analyzing play in ways that he could not before he began practicing. Now all the work and all the waiting is about to pay off.
"For me right now, it's just [about] coming in and playing defense, rebounding the ball, blocking shots, adding to what the team needs," he said. "Scoring the ball is a natural thing that I do, and I'm still going to do it, but my main focus is playing defense and helping us win games we need to win.
"My end goal is not to score 30 points or average a double-double. My end goal is to go to the Final Four."
The Hartford Courant
