Player Profile: Elliot Ankomah
By: Lya Zhang
Staff Writer
Elliot Ankomah is a forward for the men’s basketball team while studying as a business administration student to eventually own his own business.
“I want to own my own business. At first it was a sneaker business, but now I am thinking about maintenance,” Elliot Ankomah said.
He is able to achieve his dream through the Business Administration Program.
“I felt like it was something for me and that I will be interested in because there is not a lot of things [that fit for me],” he said.
He is originally from Troy, New York.
“I started to play basketball in 7th grade for fun, but I took it seriously during my sophomore year of high school,” he explained.
He did not play basketball for his high school team but played in the CYO league and AAU.
“I used to play football, and my team won a state championship during my senior year of high school so I felt like it was a big accomplishment but I wanted to try another sport,” he said. “After high school, I started to play basketball more and I got more into the sport so I decided that I wanted to play ball [at Hudson Valley Community College].”
“I decided to play basketball here because my previous year I actually tried out and got cut so it was my goal to make the basketball team,” he explained.
He enjoys the team’s environment.
“I love playing with my teammates because everybody is funny, always positive and always trying to cheer each other up,” he said.
However, it not always easy for Ankomah to be a student-athlete. The school places multiple rules to make sure athletes keep their GPA above a 2.0
“My best friends mom helped me,” he said. “We were talking about what I wanted to do in the future, and she was giving me ideas and that’s where I got the idea for trade school.”
As a member of the men’s basketball team, Ankomah has duties. “I have to make the team win, and I have to do everything to benefit my teammates and myself,” he said. “I have to be focused, and I have to leave everything else that is not a matter of basketball aside during practices and games.”
Ankomah spends a lot of time in buses for away games. He has a couple of hours to go to the adversary college to play there and then has the way back.
Even if Ankomah does not have a lot of minutes to play in a game, he still believes they are fun and enjoyable to go to.
As he plans to transfer after fall 2019 to a four-year college. Ankomah will be playing for the men’s basketball Vikings until he transfers. “I don’t know which school [I will transfer to], but I will keep playing basketball,” he said.
As for his career, Ankomah wants to be an entrepreneur. “In the future, I will try to expand my business and travel the world and explore it,” he said.