Facing Everything and Rising: a story about HPU Basketball player Emmanuel Izunabor

 

Taped on the egg-shell colored walls of his dorm room is a collection of around 30 quotes, handwritten by Emmanuel himself on white index cards. Emmanuel Izunabor, that is, sophomore on the basketball team at High Point University.

On the wall adjacent to the quotes, there’s an assortment of photographs. Pictures of him playing basketball, pictures of him and his family, him at his high school graduation smiling big with his proud mom next to him.  

“I like this one,” Emmanuel says as he reaches out and takes a card from its spot. In his thick and persistent African accent, he begins to read the quote in a soft, optimistic tone.

“FEAR,” He says. “Forget everything and run or face everything and rise. The choice is yours.”

So far, “face everything and rise,” is what 6-foot-8-inch Emmanuel Izunabor has done. 

Life as a Student Athlete

With just three weeks until tip-off in the first game of his season, days have been starting early for Emmanuel. His alarm wakes him up at 5:40, enough time to be dressed and ready before his first practice of the day: lift at 6:30. 

After showering off and squeezing in something for breakfast, Emmanuel, known as “Manny” or “E” to many of his friends, heads off to his three classes of the day. These classes, which mostly consist of note-taking and trying to stay awake to learn a little.

Emmanuel finishes up in the classroom, and heads to the Caf to get something for lunch. This lunch is typically quick and healthy and is one that will fuel him for his next practice of the day: another lift at 1:20. 

Following this lift is the third and final chapter of daily practices, where he’ll be until about 7:00 p.m. After practice, he picks up dinner and heads back to his room to eat - just before knocking out some homework and heading to bed early and doing it all again the next day.

This semester, Emmanuel is taking 17 credits. 

“It’s kinda tiring.” he says. “Each morning you leave your room at 6:30 in the morning and you don’t get back into your room until like 7 p.m. that evening.

Coming to America

Nigeria is a tough place to come from. Emmanuel exemplifies that. Growing up there is definitely very different than growing up in the United States. From day one, the odds are stacked against you. Parents in Nigeria choose to have a lot of kids because they don’t expect them all to survive. 

Emmanuel is one of seven kids born to his parents. Before he was born, his parents lost a son who passed away at just six years old. They’ve raised seven kids, but are currently having to live life without two of them close by.

Growing up, Emmanuel was a soccer player. Soccer is much more popular in Nigeria than basketball is. But when he picked up a basketball at age 14, Emmanuel quickly realized his dream of moving abroad. Dreams of living in Europe or America, getting an education, and possibly playing a sport that he loved at a higher level. 

Emmanuel’s family raised money- even sold some of their land- to help make E’s big dreams come true. At just 15 years old, Emmanuel left his parents and siblings in Nigeria and made his way across the Atlantic Ocean. Only a few inches shorter and much skinnier than he is now, 15 year old Emmanuel walked off the plane at Charlotte-Douglas Airport into a new, foreign world.

E made his way to a new place he’d call home in Fayetteville, NC to live with a host family whom he’d never met before. Little did he know, Emmanuel would be living with his current HPU teammate John-Michael Wright for his first three years in the States. 

“He was different,” Wright said with a big grin, thinking back to the time when he first met Emmanuel after picking him up from the airport with his family. “I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.”

Discovering ...Walmart??

Emmanuel’s different childhood and life growing up became clear early on. The first time the mom of his new stateside family said they needed milk, Emmanuel said he’d tag along. He was thinking they were going somewhere far different from Walmart…

“I said I had to get some milk,” said April Hightower, Emmanuel’s new mom in the States. “When we went to Walmart, he thought we were going to get milk from a cow” she said with a giggle that seemed both caring and concerned.

Coming to America wasn’t a quick adjustment for Emmanuel. 

According to Hightower, Emmanuel is a very picky eater. Furthermore, American food was hard for him to stomach. “It was too heavy,” said April. Food in the U.S. is indeed much different from the food that Emmanuel was used to picking up for his family at the local market where he grew up. 

School also wasn't an easy adjustment. Emmanuel’s English was something that made him different at school, and it was definitely something he needed to work on. “When I tried to ask questions in class, I had to write down questions,” he explained in an accent that is now a little easier to understand than it once was before.

It took him about a year or two to really learn his English along with a couple other things - like not to burn a hole in his mom’s floor and putting a rug over it to hide it. Thankfully, his new brother John-Michael (or JM for short) was there to show him the ropes. 

“He was like an older brother to Emmanuel,” said Hightower. “He showed him the do’s and don’ts, who and who not to hang out with, and the school curriculum.”

The school curriculum was a challenge for Emmanuel at first, but he continued to work hard, knowing that he didn’t have the same opportunity in Nigeria. As for burning holes in kitchen floors and trying to hide it, JM probably warned him that it doesn't make mommas too happy. 

A Ball in His Hand, The World at His Feet

Emmanuel picked up basketball at 14, fairly late compared to other college athletes in their respective sport. At 6-foot-8 with his determination, work ethic and athletic ability, he thought why not give it a go. It was his chance to be great at something and make a name for himself;  a chance for him to fulfill his childhood dreams and to eventually provide for his family back home.

“If basketball is going to be a way for me to get a free education, why not try,” Emmanuel said.

As a brotherly relationship formed between the two, John-Michael and Emmanuel worked on their basketball games together in the driveway. They pushed each other and made each other better, using the 7-inch height difference as a chance to exploit weaknesses in their own games.

Emmanuel got a better feel for defending someone much smaller and quicker on the ball than him, while John-Michael was able to develop his pick and roll offense. 

Now his main sport, Emmanuel spent his time playing basketball for both his High school in Fayetteville Academy and AAU basketball on a team coached by his host dad and American brother John-Michael Wright. Senior year was E’s breakout year for basketball. 

Alongside JM, Emmanuel won the state championship in his final year at Fayetteville Academy. In this state championship final, Emmanuel scored 22 points and collected an impressive 18 rebounds- on par with the double-double he averaged that season. 

His senior year of High School was when Emmanuel started looking at the schools that he wanted to go to. 

Choosing the place to play at the next level wasn’t a decision that took too long to make. Emmanuel’s AAU coach and stateside dad played for Tubby Smith in High School. “When I heard about Tubby Smith and the stuff he had done,” Emmanuel said, “I chose to come to High Point.” 

The Future Awaits

As a freshman this past season, Emmanuel averaged 2.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 10.5 minutes per game. Luckily, HPU’s season had ended just before college basketball was taken away for the rest of athletes fans across the nation. A new challenge is what’s at the front of Emmanuel’s mind: earning that infamously cherished starting spot.

Only one thing stands in his way, and that’s redshirt-junior Caden Sanchez who has much more experience and started over him last season. The starting spot is something that Emmanuel has to earn, and he’s been working hard to establish his role next season. “This year I have been working hard on starting,” Emmanuel said. “My goal after that is to average a double-double.”

“When it comes to practice, you can tell he’s serious,” John-Michael says. “You can really tell he’s going after something.”

Earning a college education through basketball is a big feat for anyone, but Emmanuel doesn’t take it for granted. 

Emmanuel hasn’t seen his family since the day his plane left the airport in Lagos, Nigeria, except for when his mom came to celebrate his high school graduation. “I miss them,” he said. “I talk to them almost every week.” 

Being given a chance like this is the blessing of a lifetime. It's what keeps him so motivated. E takes a large sense of pride in this opportunity, but it can definitely be a lot of pressure sometimes.

“I promised I wouldn’t let my family down,” Manny said through his unforgettable accent. “I know they are depending on me.”

By JT Farabow