Nell Redmond | Associated Press
With the 36th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Rakeem Christmas from Syracuse University. The senior who had graduated and had a great collegiate career is now moving on to the next chapter of his life with the NBA. Christmas is already on the Cavs Summer League roster and could very well make the team next season if he continues to impress people within the Cavs organization. We thought fans would like to get to know Christmas better, so here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Rakeem Christmas. We start with number 10:
10. 3 Years Is Long Enough
Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim believes Christmas is the first SU basketball player to earn a degree in just three years. He dedicated himself to more online courses to make his studies as speedy as possible.
“It’s got to be about as rare as can be,” Boeheim said. “It’s an unbelievable accomplishment.”
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9. Christmas was born in Irvington, New Jersey. He and his mother Landra Hamid moved to St. Croix in the Virgin Island when he was 2 years old.
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Matt Cashore | USA TODAY Sports
8. Gone Too Young
While he lived in the Virgin Islands, his mother passed away at the age of 28. After his mother passed, he remained in St. Croix and was raised there by his grandmother, Evelyn Hamid.
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7. At Only 13 Years Of Age
When Rakeem was 13 years old he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to live with his aunt, Amira Hamid, who became his legal guardian.
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6. Love And…Baseball?
Through grade school, Christmas excelled in baseball and spent all his time doing that. As he became a better pitcher, he also grew taller and taller. That’s when the hardwood came calling. He picked up a basketball for the first time in seventh grade and never looked back. He was already 6’4.
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5. There’s a reason the Cavs drafted him
In Yahoo Sports: Rivals.com Ranking – Rivals150 for the class of 2011, Christmas was ranked 27th on the list of 150. He was ranked higher than current NBA players Michael Carter-Williams, Ben McLemore, Otto Porter and Maurice Harkless.
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4. Some Big Numbers!
His college career high numbers are impressive. He had a career high 35 points against Wake Forest last season, career high 15 rebounds against Hampton in 2014, and a career high 6 blocks against Loyola also in 2014.
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3. All Around Beast
Last season Christmas was undoubtedly Syracuse’s best player. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, games started and was in the top three of just about every other category. When asked about Jim Boeheim calling him his MVP, Christmas responded with this:
“I hear him say it all the time now. It’s just instilling it into my brain that I’m really the guy that everyone has to look up to. If there’s a dire decision, it’s going to come down to me.”
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Mark Konezny | USA TODAY Sports
2. Just Barely Reached It
Standing at just 6’9, Rakeem Christmas had the largest wingspan at the draft combine with a 7’5 reach. There were multiple players that stood much taller than him at the combine.
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Syracuse.com
1 . Spongebob Squarepants
Maybe the strangest fact about our newest Cavalier is that he loves SpongeBob Squarepants. He’s known for wearing his SpongeBob backpack around campus and in interviews.
