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Mustapha Farrakhan Biography



Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com

WORTH NOTING
• One of the team's tri-captains for the 2010-11 season
• Honorable Mention All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in 2011
• Shot 77.6 percent (170-219) from the free-throw line for his career
• Averaged a career-high 13.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 30.8 minutes played a game for the 2010-11 season
• Averaged 14.3 points and 3.3 rebounds a game in ACC regular season games in 2010-11
• Scored a career-high 31 points (11-12 FG, 8-9 3FG) and tied a school record with eight consecutive three-pointers made vs. Howard (1/4/11)
• Scored an ACC career-high 23 points and tied a career high with five assists vs. Georgia Tech (1/22/11)
• Scored in double figures 24 times during the 2010-11 season, including five games of 20 or more points and one game of more than 30 points
• Averaged 6.5 points and 21.0 minutes a game in 2009-10, and shot 78.3 percent (47-60) from the free-throw line
• Scored 17 points, had five rebounds and four assists vs. Longwood (11/13/09)
• Made his first 18 free throws of the 2008-09 season, second longest streak to open a season in school history (Jeff Lamp made 32 consecutive free throws to open the 1980-81 season)
• Scored 17 points on 5-7 FG (4-5 3FG) in 12 minutes at Virginia Tech during the 2008-09 season
• Played in 19 games as a freshman during the 2007-08 season
• All-State selection in Illinois as a high school senior
• Averaged 20.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a senior at Thornton Township High School
• A state resolution was passed by the Illinois General Assembly (HRO276) in honor of his academic and athletic achievements as a student at Thornton Township High School

AT VIRGINIA
2010-11 SEASON
• Team tri-captain
• Averaged 13.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 30.8 minutes played a game while shooting 77.6 percent (104-134) from the free-throw line
• Averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 33.1 minutes played a game in ACC regular season games
• Played in all 31 games and started 27
• Scored in double figures in 24 games, including 16 of the last 18 games
• Scored 20 or more points five times and more than 30 points once
• Led the team in scoring in 15 games, in assists in seven games and in rebounding in one game
• Honorable Mention All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection
• Honorable Mention All-State selection by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Scored a career-high 31 points (11-12 FG, 8-9 3FG) and tied a school record with eight consecutive three-pointers made vs. Howard (1/4/11)
• Scored an ACC career-high 23 points and tied a career high with five assists vs. Georgia Tech (1/22/11)
• Had 23 points (8-14 FG, 4-5 3FG), five rebounds and four assists at No. 15 Minnesota (11/29/10)
• Scored 21 points (including six in the final 36 seconds) and had six rebounds vs. Clemson (2/2/11)
• Had 20 points at Miami (2/5/11) in a career-high 38 minutes
• Scored 14 points and tied a career high with three steals vs. Miami (3/10/11) in the ACC Tournament
• Had 19 points at Maryland (3/5/11)
• Scored 15 points, had four rebounds and three assists vs. NC State (3/1/11)
• Had 17 points (9-10 FT) at Georgia Tech (2/23/11)
• Scored 16 poinits vs. Virginia Tech (2/19/11)
• Had 11 poinits vs. No. 5 Duke (2/16/11)
• Scored 13 points at Wake Forest (1/29/11)
• Had 14 points and a career-high seven rebounds at Boston College (1/19/11)
• Scored 15 points and had three rebounds at No. 1 Duke (1/15/11)
• Had 18 points and five rebounds vs. Norfolk State (12/20/10)
• Scored 17 points and had three rebounds vs. Oregon (12/17/10)
• Had 14 points and three rebounds vs. Radford (12/7/10)
• Scored 14 points at Stanford (11/18/10)
• Lettered for the fourth time

2009-10 SEASON:
• Averaged 6.5 points, 2.0 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 21.0 minutes played a game while shooting 78.3 percent (47-60) from the free-throw line
• Played in 30 games and started 10
• Scored in double figures 10 times
• Led the team in assists in nine games
• Scored 17 points, had five rebounds and four assists vs. Longwood (11/13/09)
• Scored nine points, had four assists and five rebounds vs. Duke (3/12/10) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in 35 minutes
• Had 10 points and four assists vs. Boston College (3/11/10) in the first round of the ACC Tournament
• Scored eight points and had a career-high five assists vs. No. 22 Maryland (3/6/10) at JPJA in the first ACC start of his career
• Had eight points and four assists at Boston College (3/3/10)
• Scored 11 points and had three rebounds vs. NC State at JPJA (2/3/10)
• Had 10 points and three rebounds at Wake Forest (1/23/10)
• Scored 13 points (4-5 FG) vs. No. 23 Miami at JPJA (1/16/10)
• Had 15 points, four assists and a career-high three steals vs. No. 20 Georgia Tech (1/13/10)
• Scored 10 points, had two assists and tied a career high with two blocks vs. No. 24 UAB (12/30/09)
• Had 10 points and two assists vs. Hampton (12/23/10)
• Scored 11 points in 33 minutes vs. Cleveland State (11/25/09) in Cancun
• Had 13 points and four assists vs. Oral Roberts (11/21/09)
• Scored eight points vs. Rider (11/19/09)
• Lettered for the third time

2008-09 SEASON:
• Made his first 18 free throws of the season, second longest streak to open a season in school history (Jeff Lamp made 32 consecutive free throws to open the 1980-81 season)
• Played in 23 games, starting two
• Averaged 4.3 points and 10.4 minutes played a game, and shot 90 percent (18-20) from the free-throw line
• Had 10 points, four assists and his first two career blocks in 27 minutes vs. North Carolina (1/15/09)
• Scored 17 points on 5-7 FG (4-5 3FG) in 12 minutes at Virginia Tech (1/10/09)
• Scored 12 points in 16 minutes at Georgia Tech (12/28/08) on 3-5 shooting from the field, including 2-3 from three-point range, and made all four free throw attempts
• Scored 10 points in 14 minutes vs. Hampton (12/23/08) when he was 3-5 from the field, including 2-3 from three-point range, and made both of his free throw attempts
• Had five points vs. Boston College in the ACC Tournament (3/12/09)
• Scored four points vs. Maryland at JPJA (3/7/09)
• Scored nine points vs. Brown (1/6/09)
• Had five points vs. Xavier (1/3/09)
• Scored five points vs. Longwood (12/17/08)
• Had four points, two assists and two steals in 12 minutes at Minnesota (12/2/08)
• Scored five points vs. Liberty (11/25/08)
• Made first career start vs. VMI (11/16/08) in the season opener and had two points
• Had nine points and five assists in the exhibition vs. Shepherd (11/9/08)
• Lettered for the second time

2007-08 SEASON:
• Scored 17 points and had 15 rebounds while playing in 19 games
• Had four rebounds at Maryland (1/30/08), playing a season-high 12 minutes
• Scored three points vs. Georgia Tech (1/27/08)
• Had three points at Xavier (1/3/08)
• Scored two points vs. Elon (12/22/07)
• Had two points and an assist vs. Hampton (12/19/07)
• Scored his first career points (4) in 10 minutes of action vs. Howard (11/14/07)
• Made his Cavalier debut vs. Vermont, playing four minutes (11/11/07)
• Had 13 points and five rebounds in an exhibition game against Carson-Newman (11/4/07)
• Lettered

HIGH SCHOOL
• 2007 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association first-team All-State
• 2007 Associated Press second-team All-State
• 2007 Chicago Sun-Times All-Area
• 2007 Daily Southtown Player of the Year
• 2007 Star Newspaper Player of the Year (Chicago Sun-Times News Group)
• 2007 Class AA All-State by MidStateHoops.com
• Earned all-conference and all-area honors as a senior and a junior
• As a senior, led his conference in scoring and three-point field goals and was second in assists and steals
• Averaged 20.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game with season scoring highs of 45, 30 and 29 points as a senior at Thornton Township High School for head coach Troy Jackson
• Team captain as a senior
• Averaged 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game as a junior
• Selected to attend the 2007 Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis and was selected to the 2007 Nike All-American Senior All-Star Team
• Selected to attend the National Basketball Players Association Top 100 Camp in his junior year
• Invited to attend Michael Jordan's 2006 Basketball Camp (one of only four high school players) and served as a counselor
• Named MVP of the fourth annual Riverside-Brookfield Shootout in 2006
• A state resolution was passed by the Illinois General Assembly (HRO276) in honor of his academic and athletic achievements as a student at Thornton Township High School

PERSONAL
• Full name is Mustapha M. Farrakhan
• Son of Karen and Mustapha Farrakhan
• Grandfather is Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
• Was on the high honor roll for three years in high school
• Graduated from Virginia in May of 2011 with a major in sociology








Mustapha Farrakhan is the grandson of the leader of the Nation of Islam and you'd never know it.

Many of his University of Virginia contemporaries are probably unfamiliar with the Nation of Islam and there has been nothing about Farrakhan's demeanor or appearance that would offer much insight.

He is an intense, athletic, streak-shooting UVa basketball player who is leading the Cavaliers in scoring while otherwise displaying few of the trappings of fame.

If you look closely, you'll notice that Farrakhan, a senior who is playing his final home game tonight, has a tattoo of a basketball on his left shoulder.

Inside the basketball, in neat print, are the words "Chosen One."

Be careful not to read too much into that.

"My name, in Arabic, means 'the chosen,' " Farrakhan said. "I got the basketball on my arm because I love to play basketball. Then, I just wrote the meaning of my name.

"I wanted a tattoo pretty bad, so I talked to my family about it. I didn't just make a hasty move and say, 'Hey Dad, look.' "

This summer, he added a tattoo with "FARRAKHAN" in block letters across his back.

"That one's pretty big," he said. "My dad said, 'Well, everybody knows who you are now.' "

Mike Scott, like Farrakhan a senior but is redshirting this season, is the resident tattoo authority on the Cavaliers' roster.

"You get a tattoo on your back, that causes a lot of pain," Scott said.

Scott and Farrakhan were part of a four-man recruiting class in 2007 that included walk-on Will Sherrill. When Virginia observes senior night prior to tonight's meeting with North Carolina State, only Farrakhan and Sherrill will be playing at John Paul Jones Arena for the last time.

Jeff Jones transferred to Rider after the 2009-10 season and Scott was shut down by the Cavaliers after doctors recommended his second ankle operation of the season.

Scott meets the criteria for a hardship appeal "but I really wanted to go out with these guys," he said. "That's what had me at a crossroads before the second surgery. I came in with 'Mu.' I didn't want to feel like I was letting Mu and Will Sherrill down."

Scott took a postgraduate year at Hargrave Military Academy after high school and barely knew Farrakhan, who graduated from Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill., a year later.

"Once I saw his name, once I heard his name, 'Mustapha Farrakhan,' I just put two and two together,' " Scott said. "I knew who Louis Farrakhan was. Actually, I met Mu's grandfather when I went to Chicago a couple of years back. I went to his house and everything.

"Not a lot of people can say they met Louis Farrakhan. We sat down and talked, talked about basketball mostly. I'm sure everyone knows, but it doesn't really come up."

Louis Farrakhan was a classically trained violinist who gave up music to head the Nation of Islam, a Muslim African-American organization. He helped promote the 1995 Million Man March at which he and other African-American speakers preached on the need for commitment to family and community.

Louis Farrakhan has never been to a game at Virginia, although Mustapha said recently that there was a chance that his grandfather will come to tonight's game.

Mustapha's father, also named Mustapha, frequently attends UVa games and could be seen leaving the stands with his wife to check on their son after a nasty spill against Virginia Tech.

The younger Mustapha and his dad still communicate daily. His father was a major influence in Farrakhan deciding to stick around after two seasons marked by inconsistent playing time.

Farrakhan played in 19 games as a freshman, averaging 6.1 minutes. He played 10.4 minutes per game as a sophomore. That number has climbed to 30.5 this year.

"I would think about leaving," said Farrakhan, who butted heads with then-UVa coach Dave Leitao, "but where else would you go? You could go into the same situation. I would talk to my dad a lot and he said, 'What decision once made you happy, you can't regret.'

"Going through that adversity helps build character. I try to tell younger guys, 'Sometimes, you're not going to get the smooth side of the mountain."

Farrakhan, scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in sociology, says he's had an opportunity to grow under Tony Bennett, who succeeded Leitao after the 2008-09 season, But not everybody can play at once and players have transferred under Bennett too.

"When you're a new coach, you try not to take too much into account," Bennett said. "Certainly, you look at game film, but you want to draw your own conclusions. I can say this about Mustpha: He's improved in two areas, as a player and in handling his emotions.

"He's an emotional guy. He can go on runs offensively and get so excited and other times he'll battle his emotions and get discouraged and get off the track. But that's part of who he is and what makes him good."

On several occasions this season, Bennett has exhorted Farrakhan to "lead us," and one wonders if that isn't part of Farrakhan's DNA.

"Not many people have seen or dealt with the things that Mustapha has, being who he is and who his grandfather is," Bennett said. "I think that brings a whole 'nother element into play.

"He acts like a normal college athlete, but there are things that are there. Mustapha is a very deep young man. What's that they say about 'still waters run deep?' There's more there than meets the eye."