Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Hakeem Olajuwon didn't start playing basketball until he was fifteen. Although he dedicated much of his life to soccer as a child, his size quickly earned him a spot on Nigeria's national basketball team. (Olajuwon, Hakeem1) After two years of familiarizing himself with the sport, Olajuwon was recruited to play college basketball in the United States at the University of Houston. (Hakeem Olajuwon2) In his first season, Houston reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament of 1982.(HakeemOlajuwon2) Even though he lost, Olajuwon was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.(Hakeem Olajuwon2 )Olajuwon was the third of six children. His parents were middle-class owners of a cement company. During Olajuwon's youth, he was a soccer goalkeeper. This helped him gain skills and agility to balance his size and helped him improve his shot-blocking skills in basketball. (Hakeem Olajuwon4) Olajuwon married his current wife on August 8, 1996 in Houston. They have two daughters together. He also has another daughter, but from his ex-wife whom he met in college. Also in 1996 Olajuwon wrote an autobiography, Living the Dream. (Olajuwon7) In his career, he has earned more than $107,000,000 in salary. Olajuwon signed a shoe deal with LA Gear, then later became the face of Spalding's athletic shoe line. (Cont.BlackBio.84) In his college career and early years in the NBA, he was undisciplined. He talked back to the referees, got into small altercations and was called several technical fouls. He later became interested in being Muslim. He changed the spelling of his name from Akeem to Hakeem. After his senior year in college, Olajuwon left the University of Houston and was selected... in the middle of the card... one season before retiring in 2002. Olajuwon ranked 7th in career scoring in the NBA and 11th in career rebounds. He was also a 12-time All-Star. In 2008, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Olajuwon now resides in Houston where he has had great success in real estate marketing. He spends most of his time in Jordan where he continues to pursue Islamic studies. Works Cited Bigelow, Barbra C., ed. Contemporary black biography. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.print.Grance, Michael. The greatest basketball stars. Buffalo: Firefly,2010.print.“Hakeem Olajuwon.”ESPNNBA.2014.web.17 Mar.2014“Hakeem Olajuwon.”Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica.2014.web.17.mar.2014“Olajuwon Hakeem”. Grolier multimedia encyclopedia. Grolier online,2014.web.17 March 2014“Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon.” 2014. Thebiography.com.website.Apr.16 2014