Omar Strong

Omar Strong
No. 3 – Mississauga Power
Position Point guard
League NBL Canada
Personal information
Born May 16, 1990
Baltimore, Maryland
Nationality American
Listed height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight 162 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High school Fredrick Douglass
(Baltimore, Maryland)
College Cecil CC (2008–2011)
Texas Southern (2011–2013)
NBA draft 2013 / Undrafted
Pro career 2013–present
Career history
2013–2014 BC Beroe
2014–present Mississauga Power
Career highlights and awards

Omar Strong, Sr.[1] (born May 16, 1990)[2] is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Mississauga Power of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). In 2012–13, he was a senior at Texas Southern University and was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

Early life

Strong was born on May 16, 1990 and brought up in Baltimore, Maryland. In an interview, he stated that his childhood was a major factor in his success in basketball.[1] He said, "Growing up in the hard and tough streets of Baltimore, you had to have that hard blood in your system or you would get eaten alive! I was always told to kill whoever steps in front of you. Go at their necks like a pit bull! So that's what I did...I played like a dog on that court!"[1]

High school career

Strong attended Fredrick Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland.[3] Playing the point guard position, he averaged 22 points, four assists and three steals per game as a senior in 2007–08.[3] That year Frederick Douglass won the Baltimore city title.[3] Strong was named to The Baltimore Sun All-Metro team in each of his final two seasons.[3]

Collegiate career

Junior college

Due to poor academic performance, Strong was unable to commit to a four-year college basketball program right out of high school.[3] He enrolled at Cecil College, a junior college in Maryland, to work on his academics while also gain some playing experience at the next level.[3][4] He played for Cecil in 2008–09, took one season off to focus solely on school, then re-joined the team in 2010–11.[3] Numerous mid-major universities offered him scholarships after his second season at Cecil.[3] Strong ultimately chose to play for the Texas Southern Tigers, citing "I think I’ll have a better experience if I go away."[3]

Texas Southern

In 2011–12, his junior year, Strong led the Tigers in scoring.[3] He guided them to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament championship game, where the winner gains an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, but Texas Southern lost 71–69 to Mississippi Valley State; Strong scored 30 points in the loss.[3] At the end of the season he was named to the All-SWAC Second Team.[3]

Strong finished his collegiate career upon the conclusion of the 2012–13 season. He finished second in the conference in scoring with 17.0 points per game, made a school-record 120 three-pointers,[5] and led the SWAC in free throw percentage (84.8%).[6] The Tigers went 16–2 in conference games en route to being the regular season conference champion, and Strong was named the SWAC Player of the Year in addition to a First Team all-conference bid.[6]

Personal

Strong is the father of Omar Strong Jr., for whom he planned to return to Baltimore while in college. He said, "It's just like I know what I came up from. I want him to have everything I didn't and much more. If I'm [struggling to get] through something, I just think about my son and get through it."[3] Strong often uses his son for motivation and inspiration.[1][3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bi, Rakesh. "Exclusive Interview with Omar Strong, Former SWAC Player of the Year". TheLeagueNews.us. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "#5 Omar Strong". ESPN Internet Ventures. 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Bracken, Matt (September 6, 2012). "Sweet 16: Omar Strong, Texas Southern". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Omar Strong – 2011–2012 Men's Basketball". Athletics. Texas Southern University. 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ Roberts, Andrew (March 31, 2013). "Texas Southern's Strong named to NABC All-American Team". Texas Southern University. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "TSU Senior Omar Strong Headlines All-SWAC Team". Men's Basketball. Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 8, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.

External links