The following is an excerpt of a story written by Dayton men's basketball guard Jeremiah Bonsu that appears in the Players Tribune. A link to the full story on theplayerstribune.com follows the excerpt.

I probably spent more time hooping than I spent in my dorm room. And pretty early on, I think other kids noticed. But not like, Oh, that kid’s really good at basketball. Nah, it was more like, Oh, that Jeremiah kid down the hall? He’s a weirdo. He never goes out. He doesn’t like to drink.

I remember spending my first Halloween on campus — notoriously one of the biggest party nights at Dayton — alone in the Rec.

I guess they were right. I didn’t want to drink. I wanted to ball. And if that made me weird, then I liked being weird. Honestly, I didn’t really care about what all those kids thought of me when they saw me walking into the gym in shorts and a T-shirt at 9:30 at night.

I mean, I remember spending my first Halloween on campus — notoriously one of the biggest party nights at Dayton — alone in the Rec, where the only sounds in the whole place were my bouncing basketball and my sneakers screeching on the waxed hardwood floor.

All the hours I spent there … I kept telling myself they’d be worth it. If there was one thing I had learned, it was that I should never give up. And after freshman year was over, I went back home and continued to work hard in the gym.

I was determined to get a chance to play on a D-I squad, and I was going to do anything to make that a possibility.

READ THE FULL STORY ON THEPLAYERSTRIBUNE.COM