College Football
Abdullah making school a priority

By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter

JAMES BRANAMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Hamza Abdullah, a co-captain this season on the Cougars' defense, is on track to complete his degree in social sciences this fall.

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PULLMAN — The questions start flying when Hamza Abdullah sees his younger brother Husain playing video games.

"Did you do your homework? Did you go to the tutor today?"

"I don't want him to make the same mistakes I made," said Hamza, a senior Washington State co-captain whose brother is a redshirt freshman safety on the Cougars team.

Big brother indeed knows best.

Hamza Abdullah was on the academic ledge his second year at WSU and needed to pass classes to avoid flunking out. He turned things around academically, and last spring he made the president's honor roll with a 3.8 grade-point average.

The free safety should complete his degree in social sciences this fall, and he wants to earn another degree in history and become a teacher.

"I used to let people talk me into procrastination," he said. "Now I know that's not the way to go. I get my schoolwork done first. That's the priority. When all is said and done, the friends probably aren't going to be there, but the degree will be."

"I had to turn it around," continued Abdullah, who has a 2.5 cumulative GPA. "I had no choice. I'm glad that I was mature enough to make that choice to start buckling down."

Pam Bradetich, an associate athletic director at WSU whose responsibilities include the academic support office, said Hamza Abdullah is considered "such a great role model" that he is among athletes featured in the WSU athletic orientation video.

Bradetich said Abdullah and other athletes have to "try different strategies" before finding ones that work for them in balancing academics and athletics.

Still, there are some postulates that her academic support office is quick to pass on to athletes: Successful student-athletes "deal with issues on a day-to-day basis and don't let them pile up"; and "Those who get better grades are better connected with the faculty." In other words, get to know your professors.

"Hamza has done a great job of maturing and balancing all the requirements and expectations of being a Division I-A student-athlete," Bradetich said.

There are 12 children in the Abdullah family in Pomona, Calif., and not a lot of extra money for college tuition.

Fact file Name: Hamza Abdullah Number: 28. Position: Free safety. Height: 6-3. Weight: 210. Year: Senior. Hometown: Pomona, Calif. (Pomona High School). Major: Social sciences (plans to also earn history degree). Grade-point average: 2.5. After graduation: Would like to teach school and coach.

"My mom told me, 'You're probably going to have to get a scholarship to go to college,' " Hamza Abdullah said.

The Cougars gave him one. Three years later, they gave one to Husain. The brothers hope there will be another one for Shaybah, now a high-school senior.

The boys' mother is a junior high school teacher and their father is a carpenter. The father grew up in Louisiana, the mother in Los Angeles.

"My father does anything to get the bills paid," Hamza Abdullah said. "He's a working man. I admire him for that. He's a great role model."

An extra factor in time management for the Abdullah brothers is the fact they are Muslim and pray five times a day for five to 10 minutes each time, Hamza said.

Abdullah not only has developed into a good student, he is a team leader. Defensive co-captains are selected by player voting at WSU, and he was gratified to be chosen along with junior linebacker Will Derting.

"Man, I'm a captain, and not everyone can say they've been voted a captain of their college football team," Abdullah said.

On the field, Abdullah is the most vocal Cougar — diagnosing opponent formations, calling adjustments and encouraging teammates.

"Hamza is always yelling," said Derting, who obviously enjoys playing with him.

Abdullah hopes that the first weeks of classes go better than the first week of football did this year. On Day 6 of practice he suffered a thumb injury that required surgery, but he is expected to play Friday in the opener at New Mexico.

He said defensive backs are under special academic scrutiny at WSU because Ken Greene, who joined the Cougars' staff in 2003 as secondary coach, is the liaison between the coaches and the academic support office.

"We have a reputation because our coach is the academic liaison and he's not going to let us slide at all," Abdullah said. "We're under a microscope."

Greene, a former Cougar who also played in the NFL, hammers home the message that football doesn't last forever.

"Academics is going to carry you for the rest of your life, while football is temporary, even if you are successful," he said.

"The majority of players, they are going to come out here and are going to have a great experience playing college football, then it's time to get on and compete in business."

Greene continued: "The guys who play eight, 10 or 12 years in the NFL — when they are done they are 32 or 34 and retired and no longer doing anything. It doesn't take long to get so bored you've got to do something else.

"If you've limited your options by not completing your education, you can be pigeonholed into something you may or may not want to do."

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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