Ater Majok made his long-awaited debut in UConn Huskies colours today, but it was a quiet one. The Sudanese-Aussie was afforded 16 minutes by tough coach Jim Calhoun and in that time Majok put up one point and grabbed three rebounds, whilst committing one turnover and two fouls. In short, he was a little unprepared for the heat of battle half-way through the season, having sat out whilst the NCAA cleared his eligibility.
However this is not cause for despair. As the radio team stated during the game, it’s expected that someone who has played as little organised basketball in recent times would be rusty and raw on the floor with such a high-calibre basketball program.
There do not appear to be any video highlights from the game online yet, but I will post them when they become available. You can read this earlier post on Majok’s background. Here is a selection of what the media had to say on Majok’s debut.
Courant.com Huskies blog (Mike Anthony):
“You’ve got to play, you’ve got to play hard, and that’s one thing Ater has always done,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “Full credit to him. He’s always had a great engine. That engine was shut off today. For whatever reason, that engine was shut off. After the first few minutes, I don’t buy any — it’s a game. There are officials, there are baskets, people dribbling, shooting and rebounding. I don’t think he played very well.”
Majok was not involved in the offense and rarely touched the ball.
“He just didn’t play very well and he didn’t look like he was ready to play,” Calhoun said. “He was very hesitant about everything he did. He’s a shot-blocker who didn’t block shots. He’s a rebounder who didn’t rebound. He stood up a lot.”
Said Majok: “I realized I’ve got a lot to work on. All I can do is go back to the gym, work on it and come back on Tuesday [against Maine]. It’s difficult coming in halfway through the year. I thought it was easier, but once I stepped on the court, it’s a lot more difficult. The team has been going so long without you, just stepping in you can’t take every shot you would take.
“I tried to not take the whole world on my shoulder, and I realized that was kind of a bad thought process. Because every game I’ve played in, I took the world on my shoulders. But [Sunday] I just went in relaxed because I wasn’t trying to do too much. But it will get better. It’s a learning process.”
Boston.com match report:
Stanley Robinson scored 26 points and No. 14 Connecticut came from behind to beat Central Florida 60-51 Sunday.
Robinson scored 23 of his points in the second half, helping UConn (7-2) overcome a 9-point deficit.
Jerome Dyson added 16 points, despite hitting just five of 15 shots from the floor.
Ater Majok, a much heralded 6-foot-11 forward with 7-7 wingspan, had a less than auspicious debut, scoring a single point and grabbing 3 rebounds. The former refugee from Sudan had not been eligible until the end of the 2009 fall semester.
Freshman guard Marcus Jordan, the son of Michael Jordan, led Central Florida (7-4) with a season-high 13 points. A.J. Tyler had 12, but fouled out with just under 3 minutes left.
Majok started and received a standing ovation when he was introduced. He played just 2 1/2 minutes and got a seat on the bench after his man, Keith Clanton, scored four quick points.
He received another ovation when he made a free throw with just over 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half, his only point of the game.
That was the highlight of his night. He left the game for the final time late in the second half after Calhoun used an expletive and told him to sit down.
Majok committed to UConn in May 2008 and has been practicing with the team since January. He fled civil war in Sudan with his family when he was just 5 years old and spent eight years in an Egyptian refuge camp before his family moved to Australia in 2001 with the help of the United Nations.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph unnecessarily dramatised, “Horror College debut for Ater Majok”:
Australia’s Sudanese born NBA prospect Ater Majok finally made his US College debut at the weekend, but it ended in an expletive-laden dressing down from his coach.
Making his much anticipated debut for University of Connecticut after sitting out last year due to eligibility issues, Majok started for the Huskies against the Central Florida Golden Knights and contested the first jump ball after receiving a warm ovation during the pre-game introductions.
This was only topped by the ovation he received when he scored his first and only point off a free throw towards the end of the first half.
Majok looked more comfortable as the game wore on, and said he would use the disappointment of his debut as motivation for the rest of the year. “I’m not going to put the game behind me,” he said.
“The game is going to be a learning experience. It’s always going to be there. Every time I feel like, ‘Why am I here?’ that will be my motivation. I take that as a motivation. The more (Calhoun) cusses me out on the court, the more he yells at me, the more I know that he loves me and at the end of the day he wants me to be the best I can be.”
Majok gets a chance for redemption on Tuesday against the Maine Black Bears.
