Basketball Standout From Egypt Makes Impact at Minnesota State
It still happens once in a while. Assem Marei will introduce himself to someone at Minnesota State University, Mankato — a professor, a fellow student or a fan of the Mavericks basketball team he plays for — and brace for the quizzical look and the questions that often follow.
It is not so much that Marei is from Egypt, a country historically lacking in basketball excellence, or that he is Muslim. Minnesota State’s student body of 15,000 includes about 900 international students, so Marei’s presence on campus is not unusual. Instead, the way Marei pronounces his given name — awesome — stops them in their tracks.
Source: www.nytimes.com