Rice’s Kazemi to receive Most Courageous Award
Sophomore forward to be recognized in April

FROM RICE ATHLETICS
Special to Rice News

Rice University sophomore Arsalan Kazemi and Memphis freshman Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir — two student-athletes with similar backgrounds who have endured bigotry and discrimination to play college basketball at their respective institutions — have been named co-winners of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s (USBWA) Most Courageous Award.

The USBWA annually recognizes a player, coach, official or administrator who has demonstrated extraordinary courage reflecting honor on the sport of amateur basketball. Along with the award, the USBWA presents a $1,000 check to the charity or scholarship fund as selected by the recipient.

	ARSALAN KAZEMI

Kazemi is the first Iranian-born athlete to play NCAA Division I basketball. Abdul-Qaadir is believed to be the first Muslim woman to play in Division I with her arms, legs and hair covered during games in accordance with her Muslim faith.

Abdul-Qaadir will be presented with the female Most Courageous Award at the Women’s NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis April 5.

Kazemi will receive the USBWA’s male Most Courageous Award at this year’s NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston April 1 during the USBWA’s Breakfast of Celebration. The event will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Also awarded that morning will be the Oscar Robertson Player of the Year and the Henry Iba Coach of the Year honors.

“I am very happy about receiving this award,” Kazemi said. “Basketball is not an individual sport; it is a team sport. And I would not be where I am today without my teammates and the Rice coaching staff who have supported me. Also, I wouldn’t be here without the support of my mom, dad and my guardian, Anthony Ibrahim. I know my parents are very proud of me.”

Rice head coach Ben Braun said, “I am pleased Arsalan is being recognized for his perseverance. His improvement and accomplishments have been noteworthy. He has certainly been a valuable asset to our program during his tenure as a Rice student-athlete. He has grown tremendously both on and off the court. I am very proud of him.”

While growing up in Iran, Kazemi watched NBA games and became fascinated by the idea of playing in the U.S. He turned down professional opportunities to pursue his dream.

After his arrival at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, three U. S. officials questioned Kazemi for six hours. They doubted him when he told them he had flown to the U.S. to play basketball.

“I’m not a terrorist,” he told them. “If you don’t believe me, deport me.”

They didn’t deport Kazemi, who knew all along that it would not be easy to play in the NCAA after arriving from a country that was blacklisted by President George W. Bush.

He would need a visa to play in the United States, and the U.S. had not had an embassy in Iran since Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran nearly 30 years earlier and held U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days. Kazemi had to travel more than 500 miles to Dubai and secure his visa.

Once in the U.S., Kazemi played at The Patterson School in North Carolina and was warned, fearing anti-Iranian sentiment, to avoid telling people where he was from.

Yet, according to the New York Daily News, Kazemi told the truth when a man at a North Carolina gas station asked him where he was from.

“The guy said, ‘I am going to kill you,'” Kazemi recalls. “Then he said he was joking. At first, I was scared. If you are me, wouldn’t you be, too?”

Kazemi has given coaches a reason to consider recruiting players from the Middle East in the future. At 6 feet 7 inches, he leads Conference USA in rebounding (11.5 rebounds per game) and is among the league leaders in field-goal shooting percentage (.547) and scoring (15.9 points per game).

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball.