Frank Rutherford is best known as the first Bahamas native to ever win an Olympic medal. He accomplished the feat in 1992 in Barcelona, where he won the bronze medal for his ability in the triple-jump. What is not as well known is that he is a good friend of Hakeem Olajuwon from their days at the University of Houston. Rutherford helped Hakeem with his footwork and his patented quickness. Now he and Hakeem are working together to help develop the next generation of young NBA athletes.
This past week Hakeem was in Houston doing his now-annual workout with Emeka Okafor, and this time he and Rutherford decided a few more guys might benefit from the experience. We'll talk about the work that Mavericks centers DJ Mbenga and Gana Diop did in our next issue of SWISH Magazine, but what we can talk about here is the work that Mavericks' camp invitee Ndudi Ebi did at the Memorial Hermann HBU Wellness Center last week.
Before the workout was over Rutherford told us that the Mavericks would do well to lock-up Ebi for three seasons while they could still get him at a bargain price. My first thought was about how Ebi made brief appearances with the Minnesota Timberwolves over two seasons and didn't play well enough to stay on the team. He did get significant minutes with the NBDL's Fort Worth Flyers last season, but averaged only 11.4 points per game.
And then he swatted a shot attempt by Hakeem Olajuwon.
Honestly, there weren't too many guys at HBU who impressed. Even Emeka Okafor was taken to school by the retired Olajuwon, who frankly looked like he should be back in camp for the Rockets in October. The Dream Shake was in rare form, he rejected nearly every shot that his young prospects dared to attempt, and the few people who were in attendance at the private workout couldn't help but exchange smile and laughs as Hakeem put on a show. For the span of a couple of hours we enjoyed a flashback to a decade ago, when the league was terrorized by the man affectionately known (in Houston) as "The Nigerian Nightmare." Ebi drew a similar reaction when he sent back one of Dream's drop-step up-and-under shots. We were all looking at each other wondering who that guy was.
Ebi, who attended Westbury Christian High School in Houston, was more than familiar with the exploits of Olajuwon, and was understandably excited at the prospect of working out with the Hall of Famer.
"I'm very good friends with Frank Rutherford and Seki (Hakeem's personal assistant)," says Ebi. "They told me that Hakeem was coming to town and asked if I would like to work out with him. I couldn't resist."
So what has Hakeem's advice been for his new protégé?
"Every day he shows me moves and basic fundamentals. He tells me not to try anything fancy, but to stick with the basic fundamentals of the game that I can perfect. He's teaching me the importance of having one go-to move so that I can feel more comfortable on the offensive end."
Frank Rutherford commented jokingly that Ebi is "too quick," following a play in which Ebi tried to make one move too many and tripped over himself. He had gotten by Hakeem on that particular play, but he also lost the ball out of bounds.
"Hopefully I'll be too quick by the time camp starts," laughed Ebi. "I'm working hard, still trying to get there."
Before he started working with Hakeem Ebi spent a month working with Rutherford on quickness drills and ways to improve his footwork, much like the work Hakeem himself did with Rutherford early in his career.
"I've been working hard with Frank. In fact, I'm still tight in my legs because I gained eight pounds of muscle in my legs during the past month. So I've been a little slower than usual this week. I do stretching with Frank in the morning and then we do some track workouts. In the afternoons I workout with Hakeem, then I take a break, then I go workout with John Lucas for the rest of the day. That's helping me really to just get back in shape so I can hopefully become an NBA player."
Where does Ebi see himself fitting in with an NBA rotation? Rutherford says he sees Ebi as a more athletic, more defensive-oriented Marquis Daniels.
"I've been a little bit out of my game for the past month because I've really just been working on one or two positions. Right now I just want to go out and be an active player, both defensively and offensively at the two, three, four. I want to be active, play hard-nosed team defense, whatever the team needs. That's where I really see myself, as somebody who can defend some twos, some threes, and some fours. Maybe not all twos, maybe not all threes, maybe not all fours, but I do believe that I can create matchup problems on both ends of the floor."
And a little more about Ebi?
"I was born in London, England, but I'm Nigerian to the heart. My parents are Nigerian, my mom and my dad, so I feel that I am Nigerian to the heart."
If Ebi can adopt even a little bit of the mastery of the NBA game that his fellow countryman adopted, Ebi's future in the NBA will be bright. He has faced some challenges since coming out of high school with the 26th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, but it seems he is doing everything possible to get himself on the right track. Hakeem Olajuwon? John Lucas? Frank Rutherford? That's a list of coaches any athlete would love to have in his corner.
The Mavericks should be in for a pleasant surprise.
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