The RoundHouse | 2/4/2019 6:44:00 PM
An assistant coach called
Eli Farrakhan and told him he had 180 seconds to get to the basketball office and see Wichita State coach
Gregg Marshall.
"It was just random," Farrakhan said. "It turned out to be good news."
Maybe great news.
Marshall awarded Farrakhan a scholarship for the spring semester, turning the junior guard from a walk-on into an NCAA Division I scholarship student-athlete. On Monday after the team's video session, Marshall and Farrakhan revealed the news to the rest of the Shockers, who mobbed their teammate.
"You've always been very respectful to everyone," Marshall said. "You're a leader and you're doing great in the academic world."
"It shows how much of a brotherhood we are," Farrakhan said. "Pure joy. It seemed like they were getting a scholarship, how happy they were."
Farrakhan, from Melbourne, Fla., joined the Shockers this season after playing at Central Georgia Tech as a sophomore. He played in six games this season and recently played four first-half minutes at South Florida when foul trouble sidelined several teammates.
"It's a great feeling," Farrakhan said. "In the very beginning, I was just trying to come in and make guys better. I felt like I had to work harder than everyone else around me, make guys better. I got a couple opportunities in some games this year and I'm waiting on some more."
The role of a walk-on is rarely highlighted – it is largely hard work in practice and few minutes in games. Farrakhan said his story can serve as inspiration.
"I hope people know not to give up," he said. "I'd have a bad day of practice and I'd feel like this goal was too far, maybe it was too hard. I'd tell people you can do it, just work hard, have faith in God. As long you can have those things, you can accomplish things."
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
