KOCH: Nsoseme Hustling for a Better Life for his Family

CINCINNATI – The first thing University of Cincinnati center Eliel Nsoseme does when he wakes up every morning is pray for his family.

"I ask God to protect them," Nsoseme said.

Nsoseme (pronounced A-lee-el SO-sem-A) is from Kinshasha, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa, a country beset by sectarian violence, corruption and political turmoil. His hometown is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world with a population approaching 11 million.

"I talk to my parents and my siblings every day on the phone," Nsoseme said. "It's a power conflict. We just want peace. I'm fortunate to be here to play basketball, to do what I do, to go to school, but a lot of my friends, they don't have the same chance that I have. 

"It's not easy to be here far away from my family every day. I have four sisters and one brother. I've got my mom and my dad of course. It's really hard for them. I'm here because I want to take care of them to be in a good situation. That's one of my main objectives."

Nsoseme, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound sophomore, is the first big man off the bench for the Bearcats. He's a tenacious rebounder and shot blocker who averages 1.7 points and 4.2 rebounds with 16 blocked shots in average of 13.4 minutes per game. He has attempted only 36 shots the entire season.

He hasn't become an offensive threat for UC yet, but UC coach Mick Cronin said the potential is there.

"He's had a bad finger that he's dealing with," Cronin said. "Doing what he does on the floor, your finger's going to get hit every now and then. So that's thrown him off. Up until he injured the finger on his shooting hand, he made 12 straight free throws (during UC's summer exhibition tour) in Canada. He's got a hairline thing in there. He doesn't need surgery, but he needs to splint it for six to eight weeks."

UC fans have come to appreciate how hard Nsoseme plays, but few are aware of the mental burden he carries every day. 

"He has a tremendous energy level and desire," Cronin said. "He's just a hard-playing guy. He's got a lot going on with his family. All we can do is be supportive. We can't possibly understand how hard that is."

Cronin recruited Nsoseme out of Rise Centre Academy in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, where he averaged 14 points, 13 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots in 2016-17. 

"I started playing basketball six years ago, so it's not really a long time," Nsoseme said. "So the first thing in my mind is to crash the boards as much as I can until I get a rebound. I keep playing the same way every time on the court."

As a youngster Nsoseme primarily played soccer, the most popular sport in his country, but also dabbled in boxing and judo.

"On my soccer team, I was the tallest guy," he said. "My dad was like, I think we need try to teach you another sport. Try basketball. I thought, 'Yeah, maybe try basketball.' We went to the park outside and just started shooting. That's when I fell in love with basketball. It was something I figured out quick."

Nsoseme was so good so quickly that he had a chance to move to Canada to pursue the sport at a higher level. It meant leaving his family behind – he hasn't seen them since he left home nearly four years ago – but he saw it as a way to help them in the future.

"He played unbelievably hard," Cronin said. "In AAU basketball, it's rare that kids play as hard on the defensive end. His hustle was tremendous. For a guy with his size and his tremendous hustle, his great attitude, you could see how positive a guy he was.

"We couldn't talk that much because his English was limited back then. He learned a lot of English from the time he committed until the next summer. At first we could hardly talk. By the next summer, he's fluent. It was amazing. That's how smart he is."

Nsoseme said he learned English from a cousin who lived in Canada and from watching movies. He also speaks the native Congo language of Lingala and a little Kikongo, as well as French, which is the country's official language.

"The only (English) I knew when I came to Canada was, 'Hello, how are you? I'm good. My name is Eliel.' That's all," Nsoseme said. "I picked it up really quick. I was always with my cousin because he was born in Canada and always speaks English. Wherever we were going I was right behind him. When we ordered food, I'd just say the same thing he said. I had to pick it up quick, learning every day."

Nsoseme speaks with an accent but is easily understandable. He has a friendly disposition and displays a wide smile, except when he's on the court.

That's where his intensity flares up. It's also his refuge, the place he can go to try to forget about what his family members are dealing with back home. But they're never far from his thoughts. He's a devout Christian whose father, Jean, is a pastor. His dad does his best to stay out of politics, but still Nsoseme worries.
    
"I worry about them being in the wrong way in the wrong moment," he said. "Every time my phone rings I'm always scared."
 
Being so far from his family can be excruciating at times, but he forges ahead determined to help them leave the Congo someday either through basketball or the job he lands after college. He's a dean's list student majoring in digital media collaboration and last year was an American Athletic Conference all-academic selection.

"A lot of people say the sky is the limit, but I say God is the limit because he's the one who gives me the strength to play basketball, to wake up every morning and do everything I do," Nsoseme said. "God has a really important place in my life and my family's of course. Sometimes you just want to stop everything, but I always say to give up is not in my vocabulary. I made a lot of sacrifice to leave my family to come here. I'm just going to keep going until I make it."

Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at the Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.