BlackJacks newcomer Edosomwan brings world of life skills to the court

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Zena Edosomwan had just finished explaining why he chose to pursue Mandarin and East Asian studies at Harvard when yours truly asked about his French skills.

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“Ah… bon-jour,” he said, without missing a beat. “I’ll get better. You guys have got to teach me that.”

Chances are, the Ottawa BlackJacks’ 6-9, 260-pound centre/forward will pick up at least a few words or phrases during his summer stint with the CEBL franchise, which made its season debut Wednesday night at TD Place against the Fraser Valley Bandits.

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Edosomwan’s story has been all about learning more each day, whether it’s in basketball, in the classroom, in high-tech or in trying to open up more business opportunities for minorities.

While the cosmopolitan makeup of the BlackJacks in general is intriguing — including former Carleton Ravens and University of Ottawa Gee-Gees stars, as well as ex-NBA, G-League, NCAA and overseas talent — Edosomwan certainly isn’t defined solely by being a dominating physical presence on the court.

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The son of immigrants from Nigeria, born in Houston and raised in Los Angeles, he originally turned down 39 scholarships to high-end NCAA programs, including UCLA and Texas, coming out of high school. Instead, Edosomwan, now 28, spent an additional year at a prep school in Massachusetts in order to reach Ivy League academic standards, allowing him to attend Harvard.

He ultimately graduated in 2017 with a major in East Asian studies, with a minor in sociology and a citation in Mandarin.

Unofficially, he has earned several degrees in life skills.

“When I was in the ninth grade, my mom said, ‘You should try Mandarin, ‘ ” Edosomwan said. “She owns a (hair) salon and was talking about China having the second-largest economy in the world. It was about potential opportunities and being different, trying something new. From there, that elevated curiosity and it is such an interesting culture, with the global implications of a place like China, in terms of trade.”

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Clearly, he wasn’t at Harvard just for the basketball. In addition to being a standout in court, he became president and CEO of the Unfiltered Network, a media company that profiled students with a variety of backgrounds.

“That was just to give a channel for people, at that specific time in college, just to talk about mental health and to have conversations,” he said. “All of us, as human beings, deal with that. Some days we just don’t feel good.”

Following his years at Harvard, Edosomwan played pro with Gigantes de Jalisco in Mexico’s pro league in 2020, but that stint was short due to the arrival of COVID-19.

He didn’t sit idle through the pandemic, though, helping create “Oooh, Snap! Charades,” a viral gaming app, with co-founders Alexa Nelson and Miguel Solano. It helped serve as an outlet for people dealing with social isolation.

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“Those things automate themselves and I don’t really have to check on it that much (now), but I definitely wanted to create something fun for people during COVID, just with everyone inside their house,” he said.

Edosomwan says he’s always intrigued by interests outside basketball, recognizing that the life of a pro athlete isn’t endless.

“The game is not promised,” he said. “Injuries happen. Things happen. Some guys just lose their passion for the game. That’s not the case for me, but I’m just saying, it’s just important that you are able to understand, hopefully, the grand scheme of things in life, and that’s kind of what (inspired) me (with the viral game). If I feel it’s a good idea, I will try to go for it to get it done.”

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From there, Edosomwan made his first venture into Canada, playing with Raptors 905, the G-League development squad for Toronto’s NBA team. Placed on waivers by Raptors 905, he went further north, starring with the Sudbury Five in the National Basketball League of Canada.

He led the NBLC in rebounds (11.5 per game), was fourth in blocks and sixth in field goal percentage (51.2 per cent). The NBLC season started late due to COVID-19 restrictions and Edosomwan had committed to the BlackJacks, meaning he missed the playoffs with Sudbury.

Now, he’s aiming to showcase himself in the CEBL, a league that is attracting more talent and outside attention because it has served as a springboard towards the NBA and the G-League.

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“You can see the high level talent here, all the guys and their experience,” he said.

“Also, it’s the summer, so that’s unique. It’s essentially the off-season for a lot of guys. To get a chance to compete in a very high level league in a condensed season is really cool.”

Again, though, basketball is only part of his life.

In an interview with yahoo.com, elaborating on his viral game, he said there were “tough lessons on this journey of entrepreneurship,” but he’s hoping he can help open doors to others to reach their goals.

“People like my parents and family have sacrificed everything to help me achieve my goals,” he said. “It’s just as important that I reciprocate that to the next person and keep that cycle of positivity and encouragement going.”

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