Festus Ezeli: Intriguing player, intriguing person

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Festus Ezeli, whomthe Warriors selected with the No. 30 pick in the draft, is a 6-foot-11,255-pound center from Vanderbilt. Hes defensive-minded and physical and wasthe schools all-time leader in blocked shots.But off the court,the 21-year-old might be even more impressive. And his path to the Warriors wasa very uncommon one. Heres the quick story on Ezeli:---Ezelicame to the United States from Nigeria when he was 14 years old. By that time,he had already completed high school and his family sent him here to continuehis education.RELATED: Warriors draft Festuz Ezeli with final first-round pick
---Helived with his uncle, who was a pediatrician in Sacramento, and he lived inYuba City. He attended Jesuit High School and tried to play basketball buthadnt played before.As Ezeli put it in aJunE 11 interview it didnt work out there (at Jesuit). Basketball-wise, Ezelicouldnt have played anyway at Jesuit. He didnt have any high schooleligibility since hed completed high school in Nigeria.---In2006, he went to Yuba College. While there, he took biology and science courses,but he also took basketball, as he put it. He didnt play with the team, butbecame the teams videographer so he could practice with the team.---Whileat Yuba, Ezeli also began to play AAU basketball. Because Ezeli was takingfewer than 12 units at Yuba, he could do that and not have any of his futureeligibility affected. Hes still only 16 at this point.RELATED: Will Ezeli have more of an impact than Harrison Barnes?
---Ezeliended up getting 27 college scholarships, but chose Vanderbilt. Ezeli wanted tobe a doctor so he was a biology major for his first year-and-a-half atVanderbilt.But when he startedto believe he had a future in basketball, Ezeli became an Economics majorbecause I felt like I couldnt do both of them (pre-med and basketball) aswell as I wanted to, so I had to pick one and I loved the game. So I decided togo with business, something close to business, and it was Economics.---Inhis senior season at Vanderbilt, Ezeli averaged 10.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and2.0 blocks in 23.2 minutes per game. As he puts itIm still learning thegame.

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