Early Life
Shareef Abdur-Rahim is the second eldest sibling in a family of twelve children born to Aminah and William Abdur-Rahim. Abdur-Rahim, whose first name means "noble" and whose last name means "servant of the most merciful one," is a devout Muslim. He values his parents for their guiding influence on him since his youth and credits them with his life philosophy: "remember how you came on all your accomplishments and stay humble." From an early age, Abdur-Rahim was surrounded by family members who played basketball; his brother, Muhammad, played at the University of Detroit while his younger brother, Amir, played at Southeastern Louisiana University. Abdur-Rahim himself started playing competitive basketball at Joseph Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia. At Wheeler, he was named "Mr. Basketball" in back-to-back seasons, and he led the school to a state title as a junior in 1994.
Abdur-Rahim later attended college at the University of California, Berkeley, where he maintained a GPA of 3.5. At California, he averaged 21.1 points per game (ppg) and 8.4 rebounds per game (rpg) in 28 games. He was the first freshman in Pac-10 history to win Conference Player of the Year honors, and was named Third Team All-America by the Associated Press. Abdur-Rahim also set single-season freshman records for points, scoring average, field goals, and free throws. After a year at California however, he decided to leave college to enter the 1996 NBA Draft.
Read more about this topic: Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“I taught school in the early days of my manhood and I think I know something about mothers. There is a thread of aspiration that runs strong in them. It is the fiber that has formed the most unselfish creatures who inhabit this earth. They want three things only; for their children to be fed, to be healthy, and to make the most of themselves.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Hermann and Humbert are alike only in the sense that two dragons painted by the same artist at different periods of his life resemble each other. Both are neurotic scoundrels, yet there is a green lane in Paradise where Humbert is permitted to wander at dusk once a year; but Hell shall never parole Hermann.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)