Growing up in Chicago can be tough at times.

Growing up in Chicago can make you grow up in a hurry.

Growing up in Chicago is well … growing up in Chicago. On the northside or the southside, it's all Chicago.

And at 6 feet 2 inches tall and 155 pounds, growing up in Chicago can be tough if you are looking to get out of the second-most populated city in the United States.

That is the life that Mojeed Oluwatobi Ewuosho lived growing up and continues to lead today as he finishes up his undergraduate work to become a graduate of Alabama State University.

Who, you ask?

"Tobi is a nickname for my middle name," Ewuosho said. "It's of Yoruba origin, which is a tribe in Nigeria. Both of my parents are Nigerian. My dad was born and raised there; my mom was born here, raised there, then came back here. Basically, growing up my sister would just call me 'Tobi' because she couldn't pronounce Oluwatobi. It just stuck.

"My teachers would try and read my first name for the role and they would just butcher it. So finally, I told them just to call me 'Tobi'. I just wanted to make it easier on everybody."
Speaking of his parents – Adiat and Mo Ewuosho, they made the trip to Montgomery on Senior Day this winter to watch their son compete in his final home game in an Alabama State uniform, something he has done for the last three years and made strides each year.

"They mean everything to me," Tobi said. "They're my biggest role models and my biggest heroes in life. They've done everything they can for me, on and off the court. I can remember my mom and dad driving hours to go to Wisconsin or Indiana for basketball tournaments. I recall begging them for extra money to buy these new shoes or to play on this specific AAU team."

But it wasn't about basketball when it came to his mom.

"Off the court, my mom would wake me up on the weekends to test to get into some selective enrollment schools – the high academic schools," Tobi recalls. "I remember telling her 'Mom, I don't want to go to these schools. I just want to play basketball.' She would tell me, 'You never know what basketball might do for you, but there are other things in life that you have to be prepared for. I want you to be a high-academic guy at a great school.' That's why I was in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program for my first three years at Lincoln Park. It was a rigorous program that my mom wanted me to be in, so I tested into it. It made college that much easier for me."

But basketball is where he has made the name Tobi stick, especially in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Alabama State. Ewuosho was not known as a scorer his first two years as a Hornet.

It wasn't always easy.

"To me, one of the joys of basketball is having adversity and being able to overcome it," he said. "There's always going to be growing pains. If you let the game put you in a dark spot, you'll be in a dark spot. But just as easily, it can put you in a bright spot. If you stay consistent and work hard, you can get out of that spot. In junior college I shot like 30 percent from three, then at Alabama State, I shot like 36 but didn't take a lot of shots. Guys talk some smack during the game, 'Let him shoot, let him shoot.' I still went back in the gym that night after the game or the next day. Coach Lewis Jackson and Coach Steve Rogers would always give me tips on how to shoot better. That's what helped me grow going into my junior year.

"We came out of the Bahamas and I had a really good showing there. I was thinking this may be my best three-point-shooting year ever. I end up having a worse shooting year than my sophomore and junior college seasons. Shots just didn't fall in the game. That's the beauty of the game though, you just have to keep working through some adversity. There were games where we would be down one with like a minute left and I would hit a big three. Most of my nine or 10 three-pointers that I made that season were big threes. You just have to stay faithful to the game. The numbers might show one thing, but on the court, something completely different happens."

But it all changed his senior season. He transformed from a role player into the team's leading scorer and rebounder, earning Second Team All-Conference.

"This past offseason was my biggest yet," Ewuosho said. "I was back home, and I took advantage of it. Whether I was in the gym with guys that play overseas or in the NBA. I was in a small gym with my guys at ZTO Elite in Chicago. We worked on every part of my game to transform me into a completely different player and it helped me build my confidence up tremendously. They watched a lot of film on me, made me watch film of myself and picked out certain aspects where I needed to grow and get better.

"I just looked at it like a now or never situation; it's my senior year, I'm either going to make something shake or not. I didn't want to leave this season with any regrets. I did leave this year with some goals accomplished and others not. I did transform from a six- or seven-point guy to a 14-point guy through the non-conference part of the schedule."

Back home. Chicago. The home of the Bulls. The home to Michael Jordan, one of – if not – the greatest players to ever play the game.

"Personally, I wasn't born until '97 so I didn't get to see a lot of Michael Jordan," Ewuosho said. "All I got to see were the clips and highlights. Everywhere you go in Chicago you see people wearing Jordans – I'm probably the only person from Chicago that isn't really a big fan of Jordan's shoes."

But everyone knows and loves Jordan and patterns their game after him from the city. Maybe, but not Tobi.

"Honestly, I respect him as a player; he's one of the, if not the, greatest of all time," Ewuosho said. "But for me, I tried to pattern my game after Derrick Rose. He's IT for Chicago. He did everything my generation wanted for Chicago basketball. He played at Simeon (Career Academy), went on to Memphis, was in the Final Four, got drafted number one, was the Rookie of the Year and was the youngest MVP ever. Everyone wanted to dunk like Derrick Rose; Everyone wanted to cross like Derrick Rose; Everyone wanted their own shoes like Derrick Rose. To this day, he's one of my favorite players because he means so much to this city."

Chicago is known for its sports and is especially known for its basketball. Just think … Isiah Thomas, Dwayne Wade, Antoine Walker, Rose, Doc Rivers and Anthony Davis just to name a few. And then there was this 6-foot 2-inch, 155-pound guard at Lincoln Park High School named Mojeed Ewuosho who started to grow his senior season.

"I was definitely under-recruited," Ewuosho said. "I was probably around the same size I am today. I was playing point guard back then and I couldn't shoot then. So, I just tried to get my teammates the ball because they were better scorers. I was a different guy back then. I wanted to work hard, but I was a skinny kid that kind of got overlooked or maybe wasn't good enough yet. I just had to keep working hard. I was just a skinny kid from Lincoln Park High just trying to get it done."

But how does a kid from Chicago end up in Montgomery of all places? By taking the route many don't think of taking in today's world – starting off in junior college.

"Going to junior college was probably the last thing on my mind after graduating high school," Ewuosho said. "I was thinking that I was going Division I. There were two schools that were heavily interested in me thanks to my high school coach and my AAU coach getting me good looks. I'm thinking I'm going to a D1 or even a prep school. A lot of people look down at junior colleges, but I'm thankful I went. They don't understand the benefits it has for you. There are so many guys at the junior college level that are Division I players. There's a guy that's going to be a lottery pick in the NBA draft from a JUCO this year. There is a lot of talent there, they just don't make it D1 for one reason or another.

"For me, coaches got fired and my grades weren't good enough. It was good for me, though, because it made me tougher and more disciplined. I wasn't too far away; like four hours away from Chicago at Lewis and Clark right outside of St. Louis. I was in the middle of nowhere, so I had no choice but to play basketball. There were days that I had to try and learn how to cook, I had to live off Ramen noodles. It made me appreciate it when I got to Alabama State so much more. I worked harder because of that."

That route just made Ewuosho bigger and stronger when he arrived at Alabama State. A place that gave him a chance to put his game against some of the best in the country.

"I think I had some of my better games against guys I knew would probably be in the NBA the following year," he said. "It's hard to not worry about who it is. You've got a guy like Payton Pritchard at Oregon who's the top point guard in the country, you know there are a lot of eyes on you and a lot of people tuning in to watch them play. Those are the games you're probably the focused during; you're locked in during shootaround, you're locked in during warmups and you're engaged the whole time because you want to perform well. My confidence would rise in situations like that because I wanted to take advantage of it."

Although he played against some of the best the nation had to offer, he recalls a time that things began to click for him during his senior season. A time that he realized that not only was he playing against some of the nation's best but that he could play with some of the nation's best basket for basket.

"I guess the Houston game is when it clicked," Ewuosho said. "I think it was the first time in my career that I scored over 20. I really didn't score in the first half. In the second half, I remember telling myself I had to do something. I went full-on attack mode, started getting to the free-throw line and ended up with 23 points. I just figured since we were on ESPN that I had the opportunity to handle some of the guys that were future draft picks. Yeah, we didn't win, but I thought I played pretty well. A couple of days later, we were playing Tennessee and I got a message from one of my coaches that said 'Congratulations' – telling me I got Player of the Week. I ended up scoring 17 against both Tennessee and VCU after that. I told myself that I'm going to have a big season. I decided I was going to help put our team in the right position to win."

A kid growing up in Chicago with dreams. Dreams that he still has to this sunny day in April while finishing his work to graduate. And those dreams all go back to his junior year of high school.

"Going back to that little skinny kid, the biggest dream was making it to the NBA," he said. "I mean, I had a couple of friends and a cousin that would tell me just take it one step at a time – brick by brick. You take it like that, and you look up after your senior year and you've accomplished some of those goals you've set along the way. I got all-conference, got invited to all-star games and got player of the week a couple of times. Now the next goal is to graduate in the next month.

"I'm teaching myself to lock in and stay focused on these online classes to get the work done. I'm blessed enough to have agents contacting me trying to get a deal worked out to figure out my next move. The dream of being in the NBA is still there. I don't know if I'm an NBA player right now or if I'll be one tomorrow. But I do know that I can get there with the work. I'm communicating with the guys that will hopefully get me on the right track. I just want to continue building myself and those around me brick by brick."

For Ewuosho, it goes back to his roots. His city, his home, Chicago. Growing up in a city that sometimes basketball isn't the first thing people think about when they think about Chicago.

"I mean it was tough," he said. "I think Chicago is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, cities for basketball in the world, in my opinion. There are a lot of superstars that make it out, but there are a lot of superstars that don't get to make it out, for whatever reason. I grew up on the Northside, in East Rogers Park, which is somewhere I feel safe, but to others, it might not be the greatest neighborhood on the Northside. Everywhere is bad when the lights are off; when it's dark outside, every neighborhood is bad. My mom and dad did a good job of steering me in the right way and helped me focus on school and athletics.

"That's what helped me stay on the right track. A lot of guys don't make it out because of violence, not doing well in school or not being good enough. Chicago is so competitive whether it be athletically, musically or fashion-wise. I think my junior year, every team we played had at least one or two Division I players. I played guys that went on to play at Vanderbilt, Tulane, Canisius, Akron, BIG 10 schools, Illinois, Providence; I mean every night in the Chicago Public League you had to play those guys."

But it's his roots, it's who he is that stands out. His background, his faith, his culture, his parents. That is who Mojeed Oluwatobi Ewuosho is.

"It was harder when I was in middle school and high school," he said. "Because, you know, you want to stay true to yourself and to your culture. At the same time, you still want to have your own identity. I was born and raised in Chicago, so I'm a Chicagoan. As I got older and more comfortable in my own skin, I realized it was just a part of who I am. It's not the only part of who I am but it's a big part of who I am. Whether it's having to ask restaurants and make sure they cook something without pork because I am Muslim; or asking professors to have a new deadline because I have to miss school for a holiday. It was definitely a challenge, but I think I did a good job of balancing it.

"I still do a good job of staying true to myself and true to my faith, but at the same time, I'm a young man from Chicago trying to become a grown man in Montgomery. It's taking the best of all worlds and mixing it together to a point where I'm comfortable with myself."

The dream is still alive for that 6-foot 2-inch, 155-pound guard at Lincoln Park High School. And will continue to stay alive for a young man that people around Alabama State have watched grow over the last three years.

Tobi … a name that is just easy to say.