Sports Odds and Ends
Howard University junior guard Joshua Strong is the only Division I basketball player this season who also is in his first year of law school. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth last spring summa cum laude after two years and transferred to the famed HBCU law school this summer.
Strong, a Champlin Park High School grad, was a top recruit for MBB Coach Justin Wieck at UMD. He played in 36 games and started 14 as the Bulldogs’ sixth man last season.
“To come in with so many credits [and] graduate in two years, there’s a whole other level of where he is,” marveled Wieck of Strong, who won the NCAA Elite 90 award last spring. It is given to the student-athlete [sophomore or better] participating in the NCAA tournament who played two years at the same school and has the highest cumulative grade point average.
Strong had a 3.983 GPA for the Bulldogs, who reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season. He graduated with a major in entrepreneurship and is now in his first year of law school in D.C.
This, according to Strong’s father Paul, was totally expected by him and his wife Lori. The two parents knew their son was destined for great things, which is why he is named Joshua.
“We’ve always told our kids to be great,” said Paul. “Don’t let anybody put limits on you, and we didn’t put limits on him. We prayed for all of our kids before they were born about their names.”
Howard Coach Kenneth Blakeney told us about Strong, “He’s been such a blessing to be honest with you. To come on as a walk-on was first and foremost big. I think it’s a boost for our program.
“You understand his story, understand what kind of character he is, understand what kind of man he is. We’re truly blessed to have him be a part of our program,” said the coach.
Paul Strong said Joshua chose Howard primarily for two reasons: He could attend there on scholarship and continue playing basketball, but at the Division I HBCU level. UMD is a Division II school.
“My son is a strong believer,” added his father. Joshua called him and said he did make the right choice to attend Howard after attending a class where the professor started off with prayer. “I’m in the right place,” Paul recalled his son saying.
Paul offered a piece of advice to other parents: “Never question your kid’s dream, even if you can’t see it… Encourage them to believe that they can do exceedingly abundantly above all that they could ever dream,” he suggested.
This is why he isn’t surprised that Joshua is in law school after graduating from college in two years. “I never doubted it, but he’s superseded my expectations, my wildest dreams.
“Now he knows that he has a purpose, not just for himself but for other young people who may be designed to do something similar.”