1st ever Iranian to play NCAA basketball

[EKBATAN]

This is a long shot but, Maybe he cares about his education? Hows rice uni education wise?

could be true, Rice is better than the rest of his offers, education wise

[Aryan]

MAYBE he picked RICE cuz it felt more like home

thats wat i was thinking

he was probably like

ah ha!
berenj university!

[EKBATAN]

there are actually lots of Iranians in houston, so he'll get plenty love with his tall ass. loll


btw, speaking of food, if u read the article, some univ. sent him a long list of Persian restaurants in the New york/New Jersey area

[merah_putih]

I followed Arsalan kazemi since he and his teammate crushed my fav basketball club Satria muda during friendly games in malaysia in 2007 'at that time he just 17yo.

back then watching it highlight was mindblowing, I mean these kids taller that our mature pro player and yet so fast and skillfull, Arsalan made couple of dunks at that game, since then I followed these kids news actually beside him Iran had many young talents such as Center farman farbood and sf-sg mehdi shirjang,etc

eventhough some of you dislike arabs and bashing them left and right sometime in this forum, but without these peoples, particulary in Arsalan chase was a lebanese named Anthony Ibrahim, arsalan's tallent will never get noticed by Div-1 ncaa univs

[princeofpersia1]

Do any of you guys living in the States know anything about Rice academically? Does it rank high in league tables?

Arsalan said things before to Iranian press that he had an offer from Harvard, but rejected it due to their v. poor athletics.

Although perhaps Rice bball is weak, their baseball team have been national champs and they have an allright football team.

A huge factor is Arsalan wanting to stay near Anthony Ibrahim his agent/mentor. He lives in Houston where Rice is, and can support his NCAA career.

[Bobbyrider]

apparently he was to join the iranian national team but for some reason they didnt accept him

[ardi11]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arsala...8b937e4e&ref=s

become a fan!

[princeofpersia1]

Can someone explain to me how the NCAA works? How can a team like Rice reach the NCAA Tournament, would they have to win their conference?

[EKBATAN]

^^^

RICE is in division 1 but ranked 238, so that means they only play the good teams at the beginning of season. Good teams usually practice with lower teams at the beginning for practice. However, RICE uni has a really good academic program and their baseball is one of the best in the country.






Current Standings:


Conference USA
TEAM CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L
Memphis 7-0 18-3
UCF 5-2 15-6
Tulsa 5-2 15-7
UAB 4-3 14-8
UTEP 4-3 13-8
Southern Miss 3-3 13-7
Houston 3-3 12-7
Tulane 3-4 9-11
East Carolina 2-5 10-10
Marshall 2-5 9-12
Rice 2-5 7-14
Southern Methodist 1-6 6-13




HIS NCAA POWER RANKINGS:

Signed: RICE


Scouts Grade
88


January, 2009: Kazemi plays with great passion and never takes possessions off. He has intense style of play and has no regard for his body, often causing himself injuries. Though you do not want to over-coach him, Kazemi does need to become more disciplined in order to maximize his own time on the court and not get into foul trouble, which he has a tendency to do. Kazemi snares defensive rebounds with ease, using his very good, quick leaping ability and runs the floor as if possessed, beating everyone done the floor where he can finish off the break above the rim. He also hits the offensive boards for points. As he matures and gets stronger, Kazemi will out-work most opponents. He will also have to improve his jumper shot range to about 15-16 feet in addition to the accuracy for the next level. Typically, most athletically gifted players do not give maximum effort and Kazemi ranks at the exception to this rule.

October, 2008: One of the most all-around talented players in the Oak Hill-Patterson scrimmage was Patterson's Kazemi, a native of Iran. Kazemi has the ability to score from inside or out, has excellent ballhandling and passing skills and is very effective on the boards. He is a slasher with impressive dribble-drive moves to the hoop. He has a superb feel for the game and is a good offensive rebounder. On hand to watch Kazemi last night were Maryland, Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Memphis and others.


Notes:
Native of Iran...Wake Forest, Connecticut, Memphis, Rutgers, St. John's, Oklahoma State, Missouri are also interested...

[princeofpersia1]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/spor...lays_eyes_rice

Rice are likely to sign, the no.1 national recruit, DeMarcus Cousins!

[Masoud_A]

Eki damet garm for the article, seems like his style is close to Emeka Okafor .

[Masoud_A]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/spor...lays_eyes_rice

Rice are likely to sign, the no.1 national recruit, DeMarcus Cousins!

If that happens they are gonna get alot of publicity and hopefully Kazemi will be on the radar.

[Ghormeh Sabzi]

Wake Forest, Connecticut would so much better then RICE


lol i wonder his family think of this.. berenj uni. devoneshodi pesaar mikhaiy beri amerika ke beri berenj uni

[princeofpersia1]

In terms of the Academia-Athletic balance, Rice is probably the best university to go to for Kazemi and DeMarcus Cousins. Thats the attraction, its a strong academic school ranking like 17th nationally, whilst being in a relatively athletic conference.