"Globetrotter"

Savannah State has made ESPN.com again, but it's for something good this time.

Noell Barnidge recently wrote an article profiling a Tiger basketball player, and it was picked up by columnist Pat Forde. He interviewed the guy for his weekly Forde Minutes.

Read the SavannahNow article. It's really good, one of the best things I've seen on there in a while.

RUTHLESS INTERROGATION

This is a special episode of Ruthless Interrogation -- not like the "very special episode of 'ER'" that NBC tries to pull over on the public approximately once a month -- but certainly something outside the norm.

Meet Joshua Obiajunwa (39), The Minutes' favorite player of the season. You'll see why shortly.

The Minutes recently read an extraordinary story by Noell Barnidge of the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News about the Savannah State senior forward who, in his spare time, cleans the school gym. He's also averaged 10.7 points and 8.0 rebounds for the resurgent Tigers, who under miracle-working coach Horace Broadnax (40) (a member of the 1984 NCAA champion Georgetown Hoyas) have gone 12-17 after records of 0-28 and 2-28 the previous two seasons.

Cleaning the gym has become his part-time job. When The Minutes caught up with the Nigeria native Monday, he was just coming into the arena to start sweeping in preparation for the women's game that night.

Forde Minutes: How did you get started cleaning the gym?

Joshua Obiajunwa: After the games, I stay around and shoot. The first time I did it, the floor was kind of dusty, so I decided to sweep it before I shoot. After I did it a couple times, a part-time job offer was made to me and I decided to take it.

FM: What was life like growing up in Nigeria?

JO: I have three brothers and three sisters, I'm the last in the family. Basically, growing up, we didn't have that much. You might not have everything you wanted, but everything you needed was given to you.

FM: How long have you been in the United States?

JO: This is my fourth year. Coming to the States was quite a struggle. Taking the [college entrance] exam, getting a visa, then coming over here and not knowing anyone, it's been quite a transition. The social life, the social trends, the academics, everything has been a transition.

FM: You've said you learned your work ethic from your mom, Jessy. What has she meant to you?

JO: What can I say? You can never say enough. I don't think there are enough words or actions to express what she has done for me. I hope someday to let her know. She sacrificed a lot for us.

FM: You played three years of Division II ball at Benedict College in South Carolina, and this is your only year of eligibility at Savannah State. How did you end up there?

JO: When I graduated from Benedict (with a 3.93 GPA in political science), I wanted to go straight to law school. Then I realized the timing wasn't right to go straight to law school. So a family friend said, 'You still have a year to play. Why don't you play your last year?' I decided to play, and luckily the word got around to coach Broadnax and everything worked out perfectly.

FM: How has Division I ball been?

JO: When you play against the best, the best in you comes out. When we played Louisville, it was amazing to see Rick Pitino. In Nigeria, I always watched his tapes on how to be a better basketball player.

FM: What happens now?

JO: Finishing my master's, that's the next thing on my agenda. (SSU athletic director Tony O'Neal told Obiajunwa over the weekend that the school will pay his way to complete his graduate degree. "You've earned that, kid," O'Neal told him.) Then I will get ready for the LSAT exam and law school.

But first, The Minutes' favorite player of 2006-07 had a gym to clean.