Every college athlete has a unique story about his or her life before college and how they were recruited. Often those stories involve the heroics associated with one’s glory days of high school and being wooed by schools and coaches across the country.
Stories of serving in a national army, playing in professional leagues overseas and coming to a different country aren’t exactly common among student-athletes. But that’s the story that Saint Louis University men’s basketball newcomer Izik Ohanon tells.
“It’s different here (in the United States) not because I came to America, but because I came to college,” Ohanon said. “Things like living in the dorm, playing basketball and just being in college are different to me.”
It is very hard for Ohanon to be so far away from his family. The oldest of four children, Ohanon grew up playing basketball on the court with his father right down the street from his house, and leaving them to come to America was not easy. Ohanon has learned how to deal with is homesickness: stay busy!
“I really have a great time here. I miss my family, I really do, but I really don’t get much time to think about it with class, practice and games,” Ohanon said.
While it was hard to leave his family, Ohanon’s decision to come to college at SLU was an easy one for him to make. Once he decided he wanted to play college basketball, Ohanon sent tapes from Israel for coaches and scouts to view. Brad Soderberg saw one of Ohanon’s tapes and immediately brought him in for an official visit to the University. Despite being pursued by the University of Florida, Ohanon chose to become a Billiken.
“I chose SLU because they had a good coach, a good view of the game, the guys were great and the school is very good academically,” Ohanon said.
Since coming to St. Louis from Israel last summer, Ohanon has made the adjustment not just to the American culture, but to the American style of basketball.
“The rules are different here. The clocks are different, and over there we play four quarters,” Ohanon said. “It’s really just the small things. In Israel you play with older guys, here you play with 20-year-olds. It’s a career for the men in Israel; here the guys are playing with enthusiasm and they love the game.”
In Israel, Ohanon played professional basketball since he graduated from high school and entered the army. Israeli law mandates that all males must serve three years in the Israeli army once they graduate from high school. Fortunately for Ohanon, his experience was not as intense as that of his peers, largely because of his basketball talents.
For the first month of training in the army, Ohanon learned the basics of the army, after which he was only required to do office work for four to five hours a day before heading to practice or games for the Israeli national basketball team.
After being discharged from the army after his three years of service, Ohanon played for two professional teams in Israel, Hervelia and Hapoel Jerusalem, both of which are the highest level of professional basketball in the country. Because he has some professional experience, Ohanon was suspended by the NCAA for the first eight games of this season. Ohanon was not happy that he was suspended, but he understood.
“He’s given us a different type of player,” Soderberg said,” He’s 6-feet 9 inches tall and 225 pounds, and can play the perimeter and the post. He’s truly unlike anyone else in our program and even the conference.”
