There’s a reason why history major and all-America basketball player Melvin Ejim’s image adorns Catt Hall. Sure, the long, cold winter didn’t encourage us to replace his photo and Amy Andreotti’s with a new set of exemplary Liberal Arts and Sciences people (banners can crack rather than bend in freezing temps, and fingers do get cold).
Then as tolerable weather arrived, the Cyclones started winning in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments, and Melvin kept reaping more awards for his work on the hardwood and in hard courses. Call us superstitious? Perhaps. History prof Michael Bailey, who gave last week’s LAS Dean’s Lecture titled “Medieval Superstition and Modern Skepticism,” said sports fans and athletes are some of the most superstitious folks around these days.
Melvin had a long list of accomplishments coming into the 2013-14 season, and the list only got longer this year:
— 48 points and 18 rebounds against TCU — Big 12 Player of the Year — Capital One Academic All-American first team (the last Cyclone academic first-teamer? Coach Fred Hoiberg, a couple decades ago) — 2014 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year (the award has been in existence two years, and "Ejim" is the only name on it) — Only the fourth player in Big 12 history to get 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career — Second-team Associated Press All-American (in all, he was named an All-American by five organizations)
And I didn’t even mention he is a wonderfully nice and polite person. Can a cardinal and gold #3 banner in the Hilton rafters be far behind?
-Steve Jones