Player Profile - Tajudeen Soyoye
1/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2001
By Amy Fiscus
MU Media Relations
Most NCAA Division I athletes discover their athletic prowess early and apply it toward multiple sports before they decide on one which will eventually become their ticket to an education. Justin Gage starred in two sports in Jefferson City and continues to do so at MU while Rickey Paulding even lettered in volleyball.
And Tajudeen Soyoye?
Well, he lettered in basketball, of course. He also played soccer, which is to be expected in a country where, like most of the world, soccer is the number one sport. "I was a forward, I have a very strong left leg," he contends. But rounding TJ's athletic resume wasn't baseball or American football or even golf.
No, TJ lettered in ping-pong.
"Ping-pong is just another sport that everyone plays back home," said TJ, without as much as a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He even seems a bit taken aback at the mystified tone of the question. "It's like the number three sport, like baseball or football here (in America)."
Though unfailingly polite, Soyoye does not relish the spotlight like some of his better known teammates. He does not joke around in an attempt to be everyone's friend, he doesn't pause at the free throw line because he knows the camera is on him. Those slightly guttural sounds emitted when TJ commits a hard foul or reacts to an official's call? Straight from the gut, in more than one way. "I think when I first came here it was a little bit difficult," TJ relates. "The way people behave around here is quite different (from home).
"I came to Missouri because I know it has a good academic program and I knew that I would have a chance to play a lot of basketball."
Academics have never been a problem for the 6-foot-8 Nigerian, a biochemistry major who plans to one day go back to his native country to practice medicine. "I plan to get into medical school one of these days," he says, "but first I'm going to try and play basketball somewhere."
Ahh, yes, basketball. That other sport. After a two-year layover at a junior college in Meridian, Miss., Soyoye found his way to Missouri, where he was given plenty of playing time on an undersized Tiger squad. However, success at MU did not find him as easily as he found it at the junior college level, where for two years he averaged a double-double on his way to becoming an NJCAA All-American. Last season, Soyoye found himself undersized and inexperienced against Big 12 battle veterans like Kansas's Eric Chenowith and Texas's Chris Mihm. Consequently, Soyoye was plagued by foul trouble and MU lost valuable minutes from one of its most physically imposing players.
"This year, I'm working on a lot of stuff as a student of the game," Soyoye said. "I'm working on my post moves and being comfortable with finishing inside and fouling and stuff like that. I've been working on my free throws and I think I'm improving (Soyoye was 9-for-9 against Texas-Pan American and has improved his free throw shooting almost 12 percentage points this season). I'm trying to make improvements on my jump shot and improve my 8-, 9-, 10-footer. I really want to work on my ballhandling. It's difficult to do during the season, but I'm really trying to do that because if I want to play at the next level I probably have to play the three or four (positions) and I want to be very comfortable handling the ball."
Soyoye is not the only improved player back from last year. In fact, he sees a team effort in the Tigers' success thus far. "I think so far, so good. We have a good vibe game after each game, lately from the added experience and stuff like that. Everybody is really keying into their game which is really a key to getting better. I think the sky is going to be the limit this season. We're doing really well right and now and I think we are going to get even better."
With Big 12 opponents such as Kansas coming up and a rematch with Iowa State (despite having already played one-and-a-half games, they plan to go at least 40 minutes in Ames), the Tigers hope to hit their mid-season peak. No matter what the outcomes of earlier games, however, Kansas will bring out the best in MU, and even Soyoye gets slightly animated when the subject comes up.
"I had never experienced anything like that before," he said. "I think it's a different game. You just want to play great against KU. Last year it was one of those games where I played great defense. Just that one game, for some reason, it's a different game. I think it's going to be fun this year."
Maybe even as fun as, say, a ping-pong match.
