Titan basketball coach Mihail Papadopulos greets 2017 grad Mohammed Haroon during one of his frequent visits to campus.
It’s rare that a young person entering college has a specific plan of attack needed to nail down their eventual professional career. Apparently, Mohammed “Moho” Haroon is that unique personality, because he had it figured out long in advance.
“I will always remember the first time that I met Moho,” explained Mihail Papadopulos, San Marino High School’s head basketball coach. “He was an 8th grader at the time. He politely introduced himself to me and boldly told me that he planned to become a general manager in the National Basketball Association in the future and wanted to know if he could get involved in our program as a manager when he came to the high school.”
Papadopulos bit, and thankfully ended up with more than he could reasonably chew.
“Not only did Moho become our manager, but he took that role to the absolute next level as he brought in his love of statistics and basketball analysis to help us with advanced lineup evaluations and helped us manage the metrics of our team,” Papadopulos said.
Mohammed Haroon was honored by the San Marino High School basketball team during its Senior Night celebration in 2017 when he dressed in uniform and started the final home game of the season.
Haroon graduated in 2017 and continued his hoops journey to basketball-rich Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Basketball was like my baseline when picking a college,” Haroon said recently. “I only considered schools with good basketball programs.”
Haroon immediately became a student manager at Xavier and was recently honored at the team’s Senior Night, though the pandemic precluded Moho from hearing the full roar of the Musketeers’ crowd. It was an honor he richly deserved.
“My daily tasks include — but are not limited to — setting up practice, helping rebound for players throughout the day, tracking our practice stats which is known around our program as ‘the Xavier Way,’ assisting in finding set plays for our newsletter and, of course, laundry,” Haroon said. “I would say that during the season I spend 20-35 hours a week on basketball, and during a typical non-COVID off-season it was easily over 50 hours a week.”
Moho might have more hours left before calling it a college career. As of The Tribune’s deadline on Tuesday night, Xavier had a 13-7 overall record and was poised to square off with Butler on Wednesday in the Big East Tournament. The Musketeers are ranked just outside the final 68 teams which will comprise the March Madness field when it is announced on Sunday afternoon. They will need a solid showing to make it to what NCAA basketball fans call “The Dance.”
Regardless, Haroon will graduate in May with a degree in sports management and continue his trek towards the NBA.
“The route I want to take now is through being a scout,” Haroon explained. “Right now, I’m continuing an internship for a company called HoopStudy and I’m planning on coaching an L.A.-based club team, as of now. But my ultimate dream is still to be a general manager.”
Papadopulos was greatly impressed with Haroon eight years ago when the two were introduced and his respect has continued to grow.
“Another example of Mohammed’s overachieving character occurred during his senior year at San Marino High School when he took it upon himself to ask a basketball aficionado if he could use a computer program to break down some of our game film and give me feedback,” said Papadopulos. “Not only was his feedback very useful, it was just another example of Moho’s proactive personality and passion for the game and his teammates. He was by no means your typical manager; he was an active member of our team and helped us get better. His teammates loved him because he wasn’t just a manager; he did all the off-season workouts, even the tough track sprint workouts on the hottest of days and always gave us his best.”
In a moment of deep appreciation and love, before his senior night, his teammates and the coaching staff asked Haroon to wear an official game uniform and play on his senior night against rival South Pasadena.
“It was a night that no one will ever forget and a huge tribute to a kid who impacted a high school program like few players can,” recalls Papadopulos. “This week, as Mohammed completes his senior season as manager of the perennial college basketball Big East program at Xavier University, I am reminded of the power of intention and that when you earn things and give of yourself in a selfless manner with passion, dreams do and can come true. We are proud of our Titan and proud of how he represents our San Marino program. Next up, the NBA.”
