054 | LEGACY with Norense Odiase, Host of the Mind Bully Podcast, TTU Basketball Legend and Pro Basketball Player

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That moment in real life events really changed you as a person.

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And I was in between two voices.

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Should I keep suppressing this voice or should I surrender to this voice?

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And I wanted to surrender because I'm like, it should be three for three or none of us.

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Like, why am I the only one here?

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And for some reason, I was in another test, another question, suppress or surrender.

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And when I couldn't suppress, I wanted to take my life.

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And I really looked at it, and that team really helped me because it made me think of outside of myself, like, okay, this city, okay, this team, okay, not only this, what we have, but our legacy, Keenan, Zach, Justin, those guys that did it before me, I can't quit.

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I'm Norris Odiase, and I am glad you are here.

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Welcome to yet another episode of Becoming Undone, the podcast for those who dare bravely, risk mightily, and grow relentlessly.

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Join me, Toby Brooks, as I invite a new guest each week to examine how high achievers can transform from falling apart to falling into place.

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West Texas is known for being hardworking, blue collar, tough, and compared to other parts of the world, it's a place with a workman-like chip on its shoulder.

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Some people were fortunate enough to have been born here. The rest of us got here as soon as we could.

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At the same time, Texas Tech University and our Red Raiders don't just exist in West Texas.

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It and they are of West Texas.

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While other major schools might embrace their role as the rich, ivory tower kind of places. Tech embraces its role as the hard-working scrappy underdogs. In my 14 years in this community, no single Texas Tech athlete I've ever watched has more embodied this mystique than Norris Odiasse. A fixture on the Texas Tech basketball team from 2014 to 2019, Norris now plays in the NBA G League and hosts the awesome MindBully podcast. If you haven't checked it out, be sure to. I'll drop the links on the page for this episode at undonepodcast.com backslash EP54. Norence was kind enough to drop in and share his story. Sometimes funny, other times heart-wrenching, and just like Norence, all the time inspiring.

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I hope you'll enjoy this one as much as I did. Listen in to episode 54, Legacy, with Norence Odiase.

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This week's guest is a familiar name and face to Texas Tech Red Raider basketball fans.

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Norence Odiase finished his career as the winningest player in Texas Tech basketball history.

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If UT can have Matt McConaughey as their ambassador of culture, then I don't know of another person better suited to be the Texas Tech Ambassador of Culture than Norence.

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Welcome to the show, Norence.

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Thank you for having me.

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I appreciate it.

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That was a hell of an intro.

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So this show is really about how sometimes things don't go according to plan.

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And that can suck in the minute, but it can really set us up for success in the long term.

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And so there are a number of detours in your story that I think you would admit probably weren't your first choice.

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Maybe they were and they didn't go as planned, but I'm really excited to dig in and hear your tale.

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So I always start with kind of a wide open look.

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What did you want to be growing up and why?

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This is a great question.

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What did I want to be growing up?

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I don't know. You know, for me, I'm one of four, the youngest of four Nigerian parents.

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My parents are immigrants.

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And so as that kid, I'm one kid in the house.

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And then I go to school.

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I live in an urban community.

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And I'm a different kid to all my peers.

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And so it leaves one kind of lost.

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Saying I'm a twin, my identity was always attached to somebody else, which I didn't really like all the way.

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Like literally, if you look at all of our pictures in that time, we're wearing the same things like one set for me and my brother and another set for my older sister's four years older.

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They're twins as well.

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So it was like, instead of four, I felt like we were two big people.

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And I wanted to break free from that every chance that I get, what I wore, expressed it, if I could take it off.

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As soon as I started growing age and obviously inside, I started just acting out, for lack of better words, because I just wanted to see what somebody else could be in my own eyes.

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So when you asked me that question, I remember a time when I was seated and I was watching basketball, watching Team Elijah on old tapes. And I could just remember seeing the joy behind their eyes watching him play the sport against, I think it was the Spurs.

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And for some reason, I wanted to express myself and to be as significant, as valuable as that moment was.

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I saw basketball, I'm like, okay, gotta be through basketball.

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So from that moment, I guess I just picked that up and along with the evidence that I saw, oh, I'm at school and people like this game and people think you're valuable, think you're worth something if you play this game.

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All right, I'm gonna play it.

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That's two for two, that's enough for me.

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So I chased that game.

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But when you asked me that question, I'm like, I just wanted to be excellent, significant for other people.

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I wanted to serve people, I always had that, but I can't literally say basketball until, well, I can say basketball, but it wasn't really basketball.

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You alluded to parts of your story that certainly were instrumental in shaping who you were as a man and as an athlete.

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So I guess start at the beginning of Norrin's story, wherever that was, time and place.

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And what made you who you were when you showed up in Lubbock, where a lot of Texas Tech fans first encountered Norrin's for the first time?

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What made me who I was?

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A lot of trials, a lot of times where I was tested, transitional period.

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I had 2013, I was supposed to graduate from high school with my twin brother.

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My twin brother goes on, he goes to Texas Tech, and I'm staying, and I'm posed with a situation or a challenge.

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I believe within myself that I'm better than what my offers say.

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I went to North Carolina High School.

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And if you know anything about Fort Worth, Texas, basketball, and that area, North Carolina is a thing, a powerhouse, and it's usually guards that come out of there.

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We had Willie Warren, he was drafted, I think by the Clippers, he went to OU.

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And we've had Keon Anderson, he went to TCU, I actually played with him.

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And we had just guards, guards, guards.

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It's a historic place for guards, and we used to run something Kansas did where the guards, it was just guards, guards, guards, guards.

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And I knew I was better than that.

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And I was sort of a late bloomer.

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And so I took a chance and went to a prep school.

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I had low major offers, like schools late, and then some high major real late.

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And it was just interest.

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But I'm like, no, I'm going to bet on myself and bet on my talent, and not only my talent, but my work ethic.

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That's what doesn't come on papers. They don't stack that out. Oh, because that was a thing growing up. It was just like, dang, I'm not seven foot. I'm not even six ten. So like, how do I beat them out on paper? I can't, especially when they come and they don't see me getting buckets and everything because I don't get the balls to do that. So it's like, what looked like a loss, I turned it on its head and I went to a prep school.

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And when I went to prep school, I'm just thinking, dang, this is it. This is where I'm going to showcase myself and go to high major.

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Like step one, step two, step three, we all have the way planned out and it did not go to plan.

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It didn't go to plan because when I got there and I was playing and I was doing well in these games, we played at Oak Hill and I was killing, like double double against the best teams in the country.

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I would go back home on a little bus ride and I'm just like, okay, where's the calls, where's the coaches?

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And it was nothing. It was only until one day, one of my best friends who's at the school with me, Steven Spurlock and Caleb Castro, they sat me down and we had an idea to make a highlight tape because it's like, okay, nobody's seeing us play. Why don't we just put together a tape ourselves? They have the film, let's stitch it together. And because of that idea, that night we went literally like late at night and snuck into the film room, got all of our tape, put it together, made highlight tapes.

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Literally mine is still on my YouTube.

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And we just started putting together plays that we think college coaches would see.

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It wasn't all dunked.

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Mine had like diving on the floor, like defensive plays, that type of stuff.

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You have to love this.

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Nortons has a successful enough high school career to garner offers from some colleges.

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But he knows in his heart that he hasn't been able to really showcase what he's capable of while playing a role as a big man at North Crowley High School.

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In three seasons of varsity play, his Panthers teams won an impressive 92-19-1 overall.

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Better still, they went an incredible 41-1 in district play.

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But in a system catered to perimeter players, he never felt like recruiters really got the chance to see what he was capable of.

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He didn't moan or complain, though. He wasn't a divisive presence in the locker room.

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He did his job, and he put his team first.

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But you heard him.

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He wasn't satisfied with the offers.

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So he bet on himself and spent a year at the Elevate Prep School competing against perennial powerhouses like Oak Hill Academy and going toe-to-toe with other high major players, thinking that the performance enough would generate interest.

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But when that still didn't come, eventually he and his teammates decided to take matters into their own hands. So they sneak into the film room, they make highlight reels of themselves, they begin home-cooked marketing efforts to increase their recruitment. And not just the flashy stuff. In what I personally would later grow to absolutely love about watching Norence play, it was the gritty, heart, and the motor and the willingness to do the things most won't do. Things that don't always show in the stat sheet, like taking charges, diving for loose balls. That eventually gets him noticed by some Power 5 schools. And what better fit for a player with something to prove than a program on the rise looking to do the same. Put it all together, we got our stats out and then we put them on the sheet.

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And then we made this separate senior service list where it wasn't just, OK, I want to go to the school.

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It's like, no, let me look at Texas Tech.

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Do they need me?

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OK, yeah, they do.

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OK, why do they need me?

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Rebounded like it was so detailed to the fact that after we got all the highlights together, we put together the list, we sent it out like I would send it out.

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And most people send it to the department.

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No, I send it out to the assistant coaches because I know their positional coaches.

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Those are the coaches that do things.

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And so I send it to a bunch of schools and all of them within hours, because it was nighttime, replied back.

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I'm like, we were going crazy.

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Because it's like, OK, that worked.

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Long story short, Toby Smith himself flies in multiple times to my practice and our coaches are like, whoa, like, yeah, I'm like, yeah, this is what happens when you actually pub your players.

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Right. But not fast forward into Texas Tech.

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It was beautiful because I chose Texas Tech from instead of UGA, instead of a Washington, a TCU and other schools because of one, the atmosphere and what I saw when I went there. But to my mom wanted me and my brother to be together. Like I said, 2013, he went to Tech and I was just like a year away.

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What is the best way to be united together? One, with a coach that flew in, the head coach himself flew in. Nobody else did that for me. And two, with the atmosphere of Tech.

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Yeah, that's fantastic. Not just a head coach, but a Hall of Fame head coach. So at that time, Texas Tech is kind of rising from the ashes.

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It's not what it is today, but certainly on the upswing.

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And Tubby brought a lot of energy.

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He brought some new recruits, some fresh energy, and you were part of that.

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And so starting your career with Tubby Smith, but then he leaves.

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You end up being the last Tubby Smith player on the roster with a new staff.

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What did that experience teach you?

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Patience. It taught me faith. It taught me to build my courage, to follow my shield, so to speak.

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Just everything that I knew that personally I could do and what we could do at Tech, what we could do as a team and as a program.

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focus on the vision. It wasn't always or ever, in my opinion, about me when I went to tech.

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I wanted it to make it bigger than myself, because whenever you leave a place better, I always like sidebar on my podcast. I go in the rabbit holes, whatever.

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But people think like nowadays, OK, I got to do this. I got to use this school to get there.

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But that's not leaving a legacy. It's not leaving an impact on people's lives, not leaving the impact on the community.

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It's not serving people. It's just entertainment. He left for one year.

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How many times in yourself do you ask those kids, it's like, do you remember people that you knew sparingly for a year?

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No.

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And so I knew that I wanted to leave a lasting impact on that community.

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And when Tubby left and Beard came in and Keenan, Zach, Justin, they graduated.

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I'm sitting there, honestly, coming off a junior year.

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I broke my foot twice before, my left and my right foot.

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I'm coming off a year where Tubby used to give me the ball all the time.

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I love that.

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And I was getting better.

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I was a force.

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And nobody remembers that, obviously, which is cool.

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But when it switches to Chris Beard, it's like me, Justin, Gray, we always joke and say we made the most sacrifice because we had to.

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Like, we used to get the ball a ton like the future players.

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Then we had to learn and transform our game.

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And so when that happens and there's not the foundation, the backing that you had, it's tough because I'm like, wait.

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If you're in my shoes, I'm like, bro, all the people I came in with that built it, they're gone and it's just me.

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Like, why? I used to ask God, like, why, why, why? There was people hitting me up about teams and places to travel and to transfer to. I'm like, bro, in my head, I'm like, no.

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But part of me was like, bro, I'm frustrated in this situation because Chris Beard, he was so, his personality is so aggressive. And at first it was like, that's how I am. I'm an alpha too.

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That's what it takes. So at first it was a class, class, but I understood him.

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I would say I was already bought in.

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But once I really stood there and saw myself like, OK, my guys are gone, but we have an opportunity to do something special.

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We have an opportunity to change not only how we're viewed as a program, but how the city is viewed in the nation.

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We want to bring people all over national coverage to the city.

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How do we do that? Build honestly a tech. What does it matter? It's Greek life and athletics.

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And so how do we have a chance to build momentum off of a lead eight year?

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It's by coming back, building our team from everybody thinks where we can't do it.

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Why not?

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Why not?

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It's a perfect moment.

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God placed me here for a reason.

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I'm big on my faith.

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My dad's a pastor.

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Like, I grew up in that.

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I said, God, he placed me here for a reason.

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So how do I build and lead this team.

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And my senior year was an opportunity where I could lead and in a way that I've never got to lead before.

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It's different when you come in with guys that see you grow.

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And I was always called a leader since young.

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I was a leader of that team with the Keenan and those guys.

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But the next year, it was like, it was a different kind of leadership.

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I would be accountable for everything, like everything.

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If a guy missed class or was late to class, B would come to me and be like, Norris, like, like he'd get on my ass.

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And I'm like, well, I understood it.

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It's like, you give a leader a good name, you give somebody, okay, you're the leader, something for him to follow up with, for him to hold and be accountable in.

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And it just gave us ownership.

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It gave me personal ownership.

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And it allowed me to grow to a level that I personally, and that's why I was thinking that regardless of what people say, he was a conduit to changing who I am as a person because I had me look at like, oh, wait, they listened to me and they followed me.

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And it was able to help me as a man.

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So a roundabout way of saying that year was extremely pivotal in my development as a person and it changed me for years to come.

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Well, that was definitely a senior laden team, but it wasn't a homegrown senior laden team.

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You were the last, the elder statesman of that team.

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And you got Matt and you got Tariq who are red shirt seniors, but first year on campus.

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And so I always thought that it was a tribute to your character, that you had been the man.

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You were a dog and now you're playing a different role, but embracing it, not pouting, not looking to transfer.

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And I think in this day and age, I really feel sorry for college coaches because they have to re-recruit their rosters every single day.

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If a player is unhappy about playing time or anything, literally, like academic services or medical services or whatever, it's almost like hop on the portal, which is like athletic Tinder, like I'll find somebody that wants me and they're going to woo me and they're going to bring me.

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And that's a hard place to be, having that long-term mentality to say, no, I'm leaving a legacy, I'm pouring it.

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You don't become the winningest player in program history by bouncing four programs in four years.

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And so I think that was fantastic.

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that 2018-2019 season, magical in many ways, and tech fans are hungry to get back to that mountaintop experience. What made that team so special to you, and what do you think allowed us to, if you allow me to group myself in, I mean I'm a tech fan, first outright Big 12 championship, three seed in the tournament, all the way to the national championship, just barely losing overtime. What made that team so special that allowed you all to really overachieve on such a grand scale?

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I think it was the fact that we didn't think we were overachieving, honestly, and it's not just media training, speech, none of that.

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We literally didn't think that we were overachieving.

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We thought, and we knew that we deserved the right to be everywhere that we were, that every single day we knew our process.

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Nobody worked like us.

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Nobody was a close-knit group as us.

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We literally went to a retreat.

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We lived with each other.

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We did everything together.

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And it goes back to what you said about nowadays with the transfer portal.

00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:08.039
I laugh because I've never heard the athletic tender.

00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:09.200
That's pretty good.

00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.279
But that's no relationship building.

00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:12.759
That's just surface level.

00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:14.400
We really built relationships.

00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:38.680
We were really with each other. We had the tough conversations. I lost family members and my team was there and we cried. All the emotions together. And so when we got on the court, it was easy because you're playing with your brothers and brothers at work and you know that are up early just like you are and going to sleep late because they watched film and they had practice and they had going at it.

00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:41.000
And we probably was talking shit back and forth in practice.

00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:41.920
Like we got after it.

00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.400
We array of emotions every single day.

00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:48.279
And then we come out, lace them up and we play a game.

00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:50.720
We already did the tough work before then.

00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:55.000
So when you say that, I don't know.

00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:00.880
Our expectation was always there in our honestly, like we knew that we deserve to be there.

00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.440
So when I look at that season, I would, and I do tell people I didn't enjoy it at all.

00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:10.440
Like enjoy it as far as much as like fun it was like outside like Italy Day Final Four.

00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:14.440
I was so locked in that I never smelled the roses.

00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:16.440
I was like, all right, next, next, next, next, next.

00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:20.440
And part of me wishes that I could have understood the mag.

00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:29.960
that level of detail and that intentional kind of focus to get us to that hump because I was the leader of the team and everything fell back on me.

00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:41.920
But no, it was a combination of relationships, of discipline, of integrity and commitment every single day and holding people accountable every single day because we're not robots.

00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:54.680
So when we come back and we lose, I think we lose two games and guys go out and Beard wants to kick him off the team and we're on their ass.

00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:56.720
He puts them in a different locker room.

00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:08.039
It was accountability to a confrontational level, but it was all out of love and it was based off the foundation that we had on the real relationships and why we wanted to leave a legacy, why those guys came in.

00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:11.480
They lost, like Matt Mooney and Tariq.

00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:13.480
These guys haven't won in their college career.

00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:16.359
They have one more shot to do it.

00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:19.880
They're trusting us with their end of their career.

00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:23.000
How do we help them build a legacy like we did?

00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.000
It's accountability and it's no time.

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:26.839
We were so time bound and that's a good thing.

00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:27.799
Everything was time.

00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:32.119
Everything was, we don't have time to waste because as days go on, you're wasting time.

00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:39.400
So every day we really emptied the bucket, so to speak, and we deserve the right to be where we got.

00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:41.759
Yeah, that's a great way to look at it.

00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.319
I think that's been a consistent theme in my podcast.

00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:50.599
In talking to high achievers, David Goggins talks about how you have to be unbalanced.

00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:58.000
And he talks about if you want to be a high achiever, you have to be so laser focused on the task at hand that you neglect some other things.

00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:00.519
And it's such a fine line.

00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:02.720
I mean, athletics is one thing.

00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.720
The window of opportunity for a collegiate athlete to win a national championship is a finite thing.

00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:14.720
And so work-life balance really doesn't have a great place in the conversation at that stage of your life.

00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:26.279
But it can also set you up to be really unhappy for the rest of your life because if you're so locked in and you can't appreciate those victories as they come, then, man, that can be a lonely place.

00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:32.839
So I'm curious to know your thoughts on how that experience has shaped the man you are today.

00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:40.559
We're gonna talk more about your career after tech, but just what were the lessons learned from that 2019 season?

00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:48.400
Lessons learned, that was a good question because I talked this summer, I was in Vegas for a NBA program.

00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:53.240
I was with Reggie Jackson.

00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:54.799
He said something that stuck with me.

00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:57.839
He said, the athletes are kind of awkward.

00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:03.680
They really don't know how to communicate on a peer to peer level because they never had to.

00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:07.960
Social interactions is not a thing because we're so focused on what we're building.

00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:09.319
We're so focused on the mission.

00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:11.480
We're so ambitious that we're going, going, going.

00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.440
And you don't have the time because with people, they need time.

00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:35.400
And you need grooming and that's how you communicate. It's not efficiency with people, it's effectiveness. How do you stay effective with people? It's time. You need to build relations. The athletes are go, go, go, go, go. So a lot of times the things that we miss are those interactions and relationships and like you said it leaves us unbalanced.

00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:52.759
What I would say that I learned from that time is and I'm struggling with this too now just thinking about it I've heard all that and I kind of agree to disagree But I just believe there's room for both and as a child of God I gotta have relationships I'm supposed to walk in love. So how can I walk on this mission?

00:23:52.759 --> 00:24:54.000
It's a man-made mission that I want to do for me. I we want to win a championship But in the grand scheme of things like why does that even matter? It's cool, but it should be based on the relationships impacted people's lives. Not saying I'm too busy to do that. So I don't know, I struggle with that. Because I know everybody says that. But for me, as a believer in my faith, I'm supposed to be balanced. And knowing that if I care about the relationships and serve people and actually pouring to people, God's going to exalt me and take me to levels that I've never even thought of myself. So I don't know. I knew and I know that it has taught me to cherish relationships because I went through times and I went through trials and struggles and everybody saw my final year at Texas Tech and they think man that would have been awesome. It was the most trying time of my life due to losing family members and going through different things like that. So it just made me realize that relationships and really being where my feet are is most important.

00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:08.480
Texas Tech basketball taking on the Baylor Bears this afternoon but Red Raiders hearts elsewhere tonight. It was announced two people killed in a car crash early Friday morning were family members of a Tech basketball star. Bailey Burmaster is here to tell us how his family was honored today on the court.

00:25:08.480 --> 00:26:04.559
Despite the Red Raiders defeating the Bears 86 to 61, Tech mourning the loss of Norrince Odiasse's two cousins. The family was honored with a moment of silence prior to tip-off during the game. Norrince showing his true character rooted in toughness. And after the game the Baylor Bears joined Tech for a prayer in honor of Norrince's family. A tough day all around for the program. It was Norrince's decision today to play the game. I told him yesterday take as much time as you need we're here for you. We all know this basketball is just a game a lot more important things in basketball and faith and family at the top of that list and I've said it before Lawrence is one of the most disciplined Winners that I've ever coached. He's a great basketball player, but he's even a better man. So Just under extreme circumstances. It doesn't surprise me. You know, none of us understand why these things happen I rely on your faith and I understand this is a pretty short life we're all in.

00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:05.059
So.

00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:07.799
Norrin's his family is in our thoughts and prayers tonight, Paige.

00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:18.799
You alluded to the loss of family members, your family guy, and it was reported in the media that two of your cousins were taken in the midst of this championship run.

00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:26.480
Talk to me about what that process maybe taught you about yourself or your team in the midst of that tragedy.

00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.839
Yeah, yeah.

00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:34.960
Man, you know, with losing people, it's like grief comes in waves.

00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:36.680
It's like the variables of grief.

00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:37.920
OK, you feel it in the moment.

00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:38.640
You don't feel it.

00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:42.519
You suppress and you mission and you win and you do those things.

00:26:42.519 --> 00:26:44.640
But the variables part, I could have been there.

00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:45.680
I could have stopped this.

00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:46.440
I could have did this.

00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:47.640
I could have did this.

00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:49.839
I could have influenced to where it shouldn't.

00:26:49.839 --> 00:27:01.640
They shouldn't even came because of me and I think me me. The only reason why they came my cousin, one of my best friend, his birthday's 9-9, my birthday's 9-14, same year we call ourselves September Boys.

00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:14.279
We're so close that he flew in from Boston to watch me play and one of his best friends from childhood, Makai Mason, he went to Yale then he went to Baylor, he transferred. He wanted us to see us in the same place.

00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:18.519
So he came in and I had a younger cousin who went to tech.

00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:22.039
I said, basically get together, come, let's have a night out.

00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:23.960
Long story short, we go to crickets.

00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:27.319
I leave them with friends that I knew they would be safe.

00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:31.559
I walk my cousin, my cousin from Boston, he walks me to the door and says, I love you.

00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:34.119
And I say, if you need anything, call me.

00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:36.480
And that was the last time I saw them.

00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:39.000
They got hit by an 18-wheeler later in the day.

00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:46.000
And I say that because the next game, the game he came for was like in a day and a half.

00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:53.000
And I played in it. And it wasn't outside looking in there like, man, he's noble, he's great, he played in this game.

00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:58.000
For me, I'm like, I don't I'm numb. It's just the next thing I didn't really process.

00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:29.200
And I would say from outside lens now, my perspective now is I suppressed. And it goes back to a childhood kind of thing because all my life I've been suppressing my emotions. Early on in my childhood from six to eight, I was sexually assaulted by older women in my life. And every time that it happened through six to eight, it made me feel, I always say like, oh, am I the sweet one? Am I the one that like, just viable to get picked on? There's other kids around me. And it made me feel less than and like no worth, like lack of value.

00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:31.079
And fast forward a little bit.

00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:34.440
My dad from age 18, I was without my dad.

00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:40.599
He took a promotion in Nigeria where he was the chairman of the board of all the hospitals. He's a pharmacist.

00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:44.640
And when he tried to come back, he got his visa denied for 10 years.

00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:52.000
And so as a kid, I always say you were almost like narcissists because we think everything is about us.

00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.000
Me, me, me.

00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:57.000
And like, so I felt like I have no value.

00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:01.000
I have no significance because my dad doesn't want to be here, not knowing the situation.

00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:05.000
Because as kids, you want acceptance and approval and that type of thing from your parents.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:10.000
And along with my peer group, I go to my peer group and they're saying, oh, your dad not here, all these things.

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.319
And it made me feel less than and it kind of was in that pit.

00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:19.839
And honestly, like I said, going back to the reason I picked up the game of basketball is for that significance.

00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:22.279
I saw the evidence of people loving this sport.

00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:25.480
And oh, if you're good at this sport, then you're somebody.

00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:26.440
So I grabbed that.

00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:35.279
And for some reason, it made me feel like my value was rising, not knowing that I was suppressing everything I've been going through.

00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:36.440
I wasn't looking at it.

00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:44.200
And so fast forward to Texas Tech, it's like this guy that has suppressed and he's worked and he's overcome all these obstacles being counted out.

00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:46.240
I went to a prep school.

00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:51.920
Actually the prep school director said I should just take a lower level offer because I'll never get a high major.

00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:53.480
Those type of things kind of fuel me.

00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:55.440
And there's a lot of athletes that do that.

00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:58.079
They'll take the hate and they'll use it as fuel.

00:29:58.079 --> 00:29:59.279
But until when?

00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:09.160
And so I'm at this point at Texas Tech and I always say this, that moment in real life events really change you as a person. And I was in between two voices.

00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:27.000
Should I keep suppressing this voice or should I surrender to this voice? And I wanted to surrender because I'm like, it should be three for three or none of us. Like, why am I the only one here? And for some reason, it's a weird comparison, like Keenan and them leaving, I'm the only one here in my head.

00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.000
Them leaving, I'm the only one here.

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:35.000
Like I was in another test, another question, suppress or surrender.

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.000
And when I couldn't suppress, I wanted to take my life.

00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:40.000
And I really looked at it.

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:48.000
And that team really helped me because it made me think of outside of myself, like, OK, this city, OK, this team, OK.

00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:55.640
Okay, not only this what we have with our legacy, Keenan, Zach, Justin, those guys that did it before me, I can't quit.

00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:58.359
I'll just show up but I can't quit.

00:30:58.359 --> 00:31:03.200
So the next the games and then led up to the national championship.

00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:09.279
But it was really just trying to, honestly again, I go and rabbit hole.

00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:14.039
Honestly, it was still suppressing now that I think about it because it was like, I did not care.

00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:16.000
I always tell people I didn't care about anything in that time.

00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:21.000
I wanted to win, obviously, but I didn't care about because I'm like, all right, what's the point?

00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:25.000
I always think about that year and people think, oh, you think about the final four.

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:31.000
No, I think about the moment I'm at Capstone Cottages on 4th Street in Lubbock, Texas.

00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:36.000
I'm in the big room when you walk in past the front desk and the whole team is there.

00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.400
And in comes North, I walk in and I'm just bawling in tears.

00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:42.799
And I'm crying to Kyler Edwards.

00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:45.500
And I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.

00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:50.099
Because Kyler Edwards, one of his childhood friends is my cousin that passed from Arlington.

00:31:50.099 --> 00:31:52.599
So I was just like, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.

00:31:52.599 --> 00:31:57.099
Because I was like, I shouldn't have left him there.

00:31:57.099 --> 00:31:57.900
I should have stayed.

00:31:57.900 --> 00:31:58.900
I should have did something.

00:31:58.900 --> 00:31:59.799
Like I was just telling him.

00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:02.700
And that's like the piercing image that comes in my head.

00:32:02.700 --> 00:32:04.180
I'm so sorry.

00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:11.819
And so I suppressed those times to get and to achieve and to achieve like we did.

00:32:11.819 --> 00:32:17.180
And it really came to a head going past that moment to a Germany.

00:32:17.180 --> 00:32:20.859
I don't want to go too far on my story here, but I keep going.

00:32:20.859 --> 00:32:26.220
But when I was in Germany after tech is when life stopped me.

00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:30.039
And I was faced with the same question, suppress or surrender.

00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:31.079
And I did surrender.

00:32:31.079 --> 00:32:44.160
And it really was to surrender and back to faith and to God and my foundation and who I am and where my value comes from and not to look at the outside and to know that there's more in store for not only me, but it's not even about me.

00:32:44.160 --> 00:33:01.099
It's about things that are birthed through me and my kids and my kids, my legacy, my lineage, like those are the things that I really connected with in a time where I'm miles away from my family, different language, 9 p.m. curfew, I have a torn hamstring, I had a concussion, I'm away from the team.

00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:06.299
I really had to really dig in my heels and stand firm on my faith, so.

00:33:06.299 --> 00:33:10.059
Yeah, I think that's valuable perspective and insight.

00:33:10.059 --> 00:33:37.420
You spent five years in Lubbock, recruited by Hall of Fame coach, Tubby Smith, inherited by a new coaching staff and have to prove yourself all over again. But you end up winning more games than anyone in program history. And if you look at your accomplishments on paper, you did go Power Five, high major. You were a key component to a team that was literally one point away from a national champion. Your outcomes on paper, it's impressive.

00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:40.660
But to hear you speak, there's some disappointment.

00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:42.420
There's some regret.

00:33:42.420 --> 00:33:48.539
If you had to summarize your five years in Lubbock in one word or one sentence, how would you describe it?

00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:51.079
Searching, I would say searching.

00:33:51.079 --> 00:34:09.000
Because I come in, I'm almost 300 pounds, and I break my foot the next year, and I lose the weight.

00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:24.000
I go from 300 to 245, and all these changes, all these trials, the transitional period, and it's really searching for, again, the significant part and who I am, but searching for what I'll leave behind, the legacy.

00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:40.800
Because I always just admired those people that people talked so highly about when they left the room, those guys that had an aura about them, a different way of walking, a different way of inspiring other people that made people be like, all right, I want to be just like him.

00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:43.199
And so I thought of that.

00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:44.920
I really thought of that.

00:34:44.920 --> 00:34:49.760
I really thought about impacting people in that way and winning.

00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:52.400
And I know winning adds to that, but just that as a person.

00:34:52.400 --> 00:35:02.679
So searching the ways of how can I do that, not only in the way I play, the way I sell out and dive on the floor and impact people in that way.

00:35:02.679 --> 00:35:03.519
I was so locked in.

00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:09.760
I don't know if you go back to watch all my games, if I smiled ever, like people probably thought I was angry.

00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:11.920
I was just so focused on what it is.

00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:41.500
And I know every team needs that kind of that that dog on a team This is so on brand for Norton's if you're a TTU fan. You've heard about the brand It's been a rough year so far for football But after a fairly successful season last year a good recruiting hole in the offseason and high expectations for 2023 Second year head coach Joey McGuire's program culture is centered around building the brand. He wants that double T logo to mean something.

00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:45.659
The toughest, hardest-working, most competitive team in America.

00:35:45.659 --> 00:35:57.739
And whether we are that yet or not, before Coach McGuire put that into words, Norence Odiase put it into action. Sure, deep down he would have loved to have been the focal point of the offense.

00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:01.219
He would have loved to have been the star of the program on the upswing.

00:36:01.219 --> 00:36:04.000
But Norence has always been about more substance than sizzle.

00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:21.000
For every thunderous dunk or vicious block Red Raider fans got to cheer, there were hundreds of hours spent in the weight room transforming his body, in the film room, in the gym, refining his craft, and probably thousands of hours leading, serving, and mentoring the players on his team that he regarded as his brothers.

00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:30.039
He battled through abuse and neglect and feelings of self-doubt as a child to become a fierce competitor on the court.

00:36:30.039 --> 00:36:37.599
But through it all, he became the living, breathing, walking embodiment of what it means to be a Red Raider.

00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:42.920
That's the kind of dude others talk about highly when he leaves the room.

00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:48.199
And so I was searching to find a base of what people needed.

00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:49.800
They needed that on the court.

00:36:49.800 --> 00:37:14.639
They needed that as a person in the community The young dreamers need somebody to look at and be like, okay, I want to be like him I was just searching to find that within myself. I would say Mm-hmm. I think that's a powerful insight They are sensational with their interior passing.

00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:23.639
The line by Norins Odease, the senior captain, can tie it right here with 3.28 on the clock.

00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:29.039
Not it at 59.

00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:37.039
I think it's also important to point out that even as a red shirt senior, you're a grown man but in a lot of ways you're a kid, you're still learning to deal with emotions.

00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:44.000
Dealing with the emotion and the disappointment of that loss, I remember that Tuesday in Lubbock and I remember getting out of bed and the sun still rose in the east and I went to campus.

00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.000
How awesome would it have been to be national champions?

00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:48.000
But the world went on.

00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:54.000
And for me, just being removed as a fan, that Tuesday was, I don't know how to explain it.

00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:55.000
It was just different.

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:56.000
It was weird.

00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:03.500
It was like I kind of went in on Monday thinking we're going to win the national championship tonight.

00:38:03.500 --> 00:38:05.400
Lubbock's going to bring home a national champion.

00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:08.199
You know that that's going to happen and didn't happen.

00:38:08.199 --> 00:38:11.400
What was that Tuesday like for you?

00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:38.440
Even you saying that just kind of like pissed me off because I'm like, everything you just explained was what we thought and what we knew.

00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:40.940
It's not even thought, it's like we knew we're going to win the game.

00:38:40.940 --> 00:38:45.440
We knew that we're going to come out on top and we knew like this was it.

00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:54.579
And just obviously the way the game played out, but for it not to happen, pain is not even a word to use.

00:38:54.579 --> 00:39:15.639
So that next day, I can't remember where I was, we came back, we talked to the crowd and we were in the arena and everybody was there, but guys were kind of just floating because it was like none of us are present, we're just in our own heads about the year that we had and the team we assembled and the new thing that we brought to Lubbock and Big 12 champions.

00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:19.000
We're thinking about all that in our head and what it means from here.

00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:20.280
Like, how could this be over?

00:39:20.280 --> 00:39:21.320
Is this the end?

00:39:21.320 --> 00:39:27.159
We envisioned the Jones football stadium being packed for a parade.

00:39:27.159 --> 00:39:30.000
Those are the things that we expected.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:32.960
Those are the things that we really were looking at.

00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:39.500
So when we came back, it sounds almost weird, but it was almost ungrateful.

00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:43.760
Because I come in there, for me, I'm like, bro, look at where we're at.

00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:45.079
We're back at the USA.

00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:49.440
Obviously, the fans, we love the fans, but it's like, bro, we're not supposed to be here right now.

00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:50.960
We're supposed to be in the stadium.

00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:51.920
We wanted that.

00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:55.079
There should be something different.

00:39:55.079 --> 00:40:02.639
And not having that, and it's kind of weird because now I'm really cool with Dia Kite, Mamade Dia Kite, the one with the blonde hair.

00:40:02.639 --> 00:40:09.960
And he was just like, we worked out together pre-death, and he was just like, Virginia is like an academic school.

00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:11.880
The next day was just like another day.

00:40:11.880 --> 00:40:13.920
And I was just like, that pisses me off, bro.

00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:17.000
Because you guys don't know what that would have meant.

00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:25.400
And so when I think about that day, I haven't, I think I saw a clip, but I haven't watched that game full.

00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:27.000
And I think there's going to be some time until I watch.

00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:28.000
Yeah, right.

00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:32.000
So go through that process.

00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:36.000
Things didn't end how any of us wanted, but your career is over.

00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:41.000
It didn't exactly end on your terms, but it wasn't cut short by injury.

00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:45.000
You played out your college career, and then you're looking at the next opportunity.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:48.000
So you turn your attention to professional basketball.

00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:56.840
What has been the biggest surprise for you in the four years, the two continents, the six teams, where you have invested as a professional basketball player?

00:40:56.840 --> 00:40:58.960
Talent is not the number one thing.

00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:01.400
Talent probably not the number two thing.

00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:09.519
I'll say my truth, but I don't wanna ever discourage someone from going professional, but it's a different game.

00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:18.000
It's politics, and it's a lot of other things added than your talent.

00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:24.000
And I would say that with pausing for a moment, because I think that's every job.

00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:34.000
And whenever your talent, something creative that you express yourself through since a kid becomes a job, it might and it can.

00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:41.719
And for a lot of people, it does change the way you look at this game that you've played and something that you used to express yourself.

00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:53.559
So I always say to athletes and the people that to know that coach speak is, nope, keep your focus on basketball, basketball, basketball, like unbalanced almost.

00:41:53.559 --> 00:41:57.639
Like I love the game, I love people that love the game, you gotta breathe, eat, sleep the game.

00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:01.599
And I say I get the context and I get where you're coming from the standpoint.

00:42:01.599 --> 00:42:14.719
And I know that for as a coach, you need me to be that way for you and for success. I get that. But on the human level, it's about, OK, what are the relationships I have? And wait, it goes to my values. What do I value as a person?

00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:26.320
Do I value relationship? Do I value this life? Obviously, I value perseverance in every aspect of my life. So it's not just basketball, basketball, basketball, and the span out and know like the things that really matter.

00:42:26.320 --> 00:42:30.199
Okay, if I'm coming from that standpoint, how do I build young men?

00:42:30.199 --> 00:42:32.960
How do I build people, leaders in society?

00:42:32.960 --> 00:42:44.920
It's looking at your life from a holistic lens and addressing every need that one needs. And I've been around a lot of guys, millionaires, guys that got the money and they're unhappy for a lot of those reasons.

00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:50.880
They don't have family around them, a good support system, a good group of people that they can rely on.

00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:54.840
And it's unfortunate because we're teaching the same talk track.

00:42:54.840 --> 00:42:56.159
It's like a sales job.

00:42:56.159 --> 00:43:02.119
I worked sales for Amazon account executive, and they give me a talk track to what to say to these sellers.

00:43:02.119 --> 00:43:04.199
And then one day I just threw them out because it's stale.

00:43:04.199 --> 00:43:05.679
And we just ask the same questions.

00:43:05.679 --> 00:43:06.960
We say the same thing over.

00:43:06.960 --> 00:43:08.079
Coach is doing the same thing.

00:43:08.079 --> 00:43:09.679
I'm just honestly, he's lazy.

00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:11.280
Oh, just go and grind.

00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:18.940
And all right, we get the premise, but how do you impact and effectively communicate with the person that you're speaking to?

00:43:18.940 --> 00:43:20.340
You actually have to know them.

00:43:20.340 --> 00:43:21.539
What does that go back to?

00:43:21.539 --> 00:43:23.860
The foundation of relationship.

00:43:23.860 --> 00:43:28.420
And it really just taught me that, yes, excellence is a thing and work hard.

00:43:28.420 --> 00:43:29.820
And you already did that.

00:43:29.820 --> 00:43:32.099
You're the type of person you're already motivated.

00:43:32.099 --> 00:43:39.159
But it's about one, leaving a legacy for people behind you and to just inspiring people.

00:43:39.159 --> 00:43:53.000
Maybe it goes to the same thing, but inspiring people in what you do and finding other things, other facets of yourself to showcase and to learn about and to be creative about all the traits that God gave you.

00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:57.039
Yeah, he gave you traits to play basketball, but what other traits did he give you?

00:43:57.039 --> 00:44:01.320
And so with those talents, with those traits, how do you give back to other people?

00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:02.320
Right.

00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:04.000
Well, I've long been a fan.

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:16.400
You were workmanlike in so many ways and obviously heart and a hustle guy, always selling out on diving for loose balls and taking charges and that kind of thing.

00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:17.400
I think you hit the nail on the head.

00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:23.079
A lot of people looked at Norenson, especially those early years, like he's the quiet, angry guy.

00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:24.480
Now you're a podcaster.

00:44:24.480 --> 00:44:41.400
You've got a platform and to hear you talk. It's not toxic masculinity You talk about being vulnerable and having feelings and controlling your mind bully so talk to me about your platform now and where the genesis for this came from and What this podcast has done for you as man?

00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:49.239
Yes, yeah, I'm on Billy podcasts overcoming the negative voice I say beat the hell out of your negative voice because I'm aggressive in nature.

00:44:49.239 --> 00:44:50.880
That's kind of what I do.

00:44:50.880 --> 00:45:06.920
But it came from in Germany where my first year out of Texas Tech, I was with the Suns, then the Suns G League, then COVID happens and I'm in an opportunity where one of the most amount of money that I've seen in my life, a three story house, nice living, just like over here.

00:45:06.920 --> 00:45:09.239
I'm driving a car on the Autobahn.

00:45:09.239 --> 00:45:10.639
I can go as fast as I want.

00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:15.360
It was in the time where lockdown had just happened here and in Germany wasn't locked down.

00:45:15.360 --> 00:45:16.320
I was in Berlin.

00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:26.800
I remember I was in this bar with all my new teammates sending videos to my friends back home at 4 AM saying, this is how we live and y'all think it's nice over here.

00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:29.199
And so literally a month later, everything shut down.

00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:33.679
But then also a month later, I tore my hamstring and I had a coach that made it tough.

00:45:33.679 --> 00:45:34.880
He was honestly racist.

00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:36.320
He's been fired three times.

00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:46.159
He called the woman a Nazi there. Just some things that you don't do in Germany, you know, the real traditional kind of town, kind of like Lubbock, like it's a no-no in Bamberg.

00:45:46.159 --> 00:45:55.599
And so it was actually funny, I dropped my podcast and everybody in that city listened, it was going viral and that. But I take that place again, a different language.

00:45:55.599 --> 00:46:06.280
Now Germany has a 9pm curfew. I have a torn hamstring and this coach was saying just these negative things to me every single time I'm in the gym and I see him like three times a day.

00:46:06.280 --> 00:46:12.119
So I go in for workouts, shooting, I see him and he's saying these negative things, negative, negative, negative.

00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:14.400
And then I go to practice, negative, negative, negative.

00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:24.239
I go home, have my time to peace and I chill and I come back for weights, negative, negative, just saying these things because I guess he wanted to find the weakest link.

00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:25.239
He was under a lot of pressure.

00:46:25.239 --> 00:46:27.400
It's a prestigious club that I went to.

00:46:27.400 --> 00:46:30.159
And so it's a thing with overseas players.

00:46:30.159 --> 00:46:33.079
Americans, if you're not producing as American, you're out of there.

00:46:33.079 --> 00:46:37.400
And I guess he saw a rookie that he calls, and he just wanted to get him out.

00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:40.440
And my agent, him and them went back and forth.

00:46:40.440 --> 00:46:44.440
When my agent would come, it would be crazy, play mind games, and be the nicest guy.

00:46:44.440 --> 00:46:56.440
When my agent's in the building, then my agent leaves, it's just like, there's so many challenges to where I had a torn hamstring, I'm going against a seven footer, 300 pounder in this drill.

00:46:56.440 --> 00:47:00.519
I don't know if anybody knows obviously the game of basketball, there's cross screens.

00:47:00.519 --> 00:47:08.599
And from block to block, the job of a defender is to not let the big fella post up at the block, it's to push him off the block.

00:47:08.599 --> 00:47:13.480
Because if a big person gets on that block, it's easy to turn around and score, and I'm not seven foot.

00:47:13.480 --> 00:47:39.000
And so the idea was to one with a torn hamstring. I'm over here. Beat him to the spot front him and make sure he's out so I Did that drill on a torn hamstring because I wanted to prove in my head. I'm like no, I'm approving. I'm approving I'm approve it. We literally did that drill like five times and He kept stopping and saying go go again go again because he thought The big fella was close to the block, which he wasn't.

00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:45.000
The last time I literally kid you not, I looked down and my feet are at the three point line.

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:50.000
So I had front this guy all the way out to the three point line and he still says stop.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:56.000
And that was in a nutshell who he was as a person. He's just making it challenging for no reason.

00:47:56.000 --> 00:48:03.119
And so fast forward to weeks later, I got a concussion and I hit my head and me and my trainer, it's always weird.

00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:05.320
I'm always really close to the trainers on the team.

00:48:05.320 --> 00:48:06.239
Shout out Killian.

00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:11.380
As an athletic trainer myself, I can say with all certainty, we appreciate dudes like you too, Norris.

00:48:11.380 --> 00:48:20.579
And so he's tending to me with this concussion upstairs and the coach runs up there and he's like cussing out the trainer in Dutch because he's like, he'll be all right, leave him.

00:48:20.579 --> 00:48:24.099
And so my trainer just sent me to the hospital and in that time it was COVID.

00:48:24.099 --> 00:48:28.519
So they had real strict protocol.

00:48:28.519 --> 00:48:30.440
So literally, I was by myself.

00:48:30.440 --> 00:48:33.599
And so I get with my agent.

00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:36.320
I'm like, OK, this is not the best time for me.

00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:38.599
And in Europe, it was fever break.

00:48:38.599 --> 00:48:39.800
You're in between teams.

00:48:39.800 --> 00:48:41.960
It's not the easiest time to find another team.

00:48:41.960 --> 00:48:44.159
So I'm literally in between teams.

00:48:44.159 --> 00:48:48.800
And this is when, again, when you're in isolated times, I'm a faith guy.

00:48:48.800 --> 00:48:51.480
The enemy comes like no other.

00:48:51.480 --> 00:48:55.679
And like I said, that was the moment where I wanted to surrender.

00:48:55.679 --> 00:49:01.280
But I did choose to surrender and got on my knees and prayed and thanked my Lord and found out who I was.

00:49:01.280 --> 00:49:08.280
My mom would always send me links to scriptures and sermons from old pastors that got her through tough times.

00:49:08.280 --> 00:49:12.679
And through that time, I really just bunkered in and found a new process.

00:49:12.679 --> 00:49:41.599
And every single day while I was away from the team, I literally would wake up and I would journal because when you write things out, you figure out why it is the way you feel that way and it helps you. Like writing is essential. And then I was in the stocks and I still am and I would just read books. And I'm laughing because for workouts, I would put on boxing videos and shadow box and literally do jump ropes and ball dribbling to the point where my neighbors were like cursing me out in German because I'd be up all night.

00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:44.000
Long story short, I would keep myself active.

00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:50.880
And through that, I'm like, wait, I'm not the only one, the only athlete, the only person that goes through a time like this.

00:49:50.880 --> 00:50:05.679
And how do I, again, want to be a leader, but shed my light and showcase who I am and tell my story, open the door to my life and let people see what they think they see about me, but now what they actually know about me and expose these things.

00:50:05.679 --> 00:50:11.519
I came up with MindBully, overcoming the negative voice, and been going so far from then.

00:50:11.519 --> 00:50:13.599
Yeah, well, it's a great show.

00:50:13.599 --> 00:50:18.440
I'll drop the links in the show description for anybody who wants to check it out, but it's really powerful.

00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:24.199
Also, lots of snippets on socials that you pull out, so lots of great inspiration there.

00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:27.840
You don't have to be a member of the Texas Tech basketball team to be inspired by Norris.

00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:51.840
That said, I think there's probably no better indicator of the legacy you left than the fact that you were tabbed to help name the newest basketball coach. Talk to me about what that meant to you as a player, but also just as a man to be included in that process and what it's meant for you to stay connected to the team after your playing days were over?

00:50:51.840 --> 00:51:18.159
It's huge. It's a humbling experience. It's an honor to represent. Again, I always say this and that's kind of the biggest kind of love or not reverence, but for lack of better words, that's the biggest kind of respect somebody can give you in a team, in a school, an organization can give you that they think of you so highly that they put you on to hire the man.

00:51:18.159 --> 00:51:22.659
And so the year, the decision before that is actually crazy.

00:51:22.659 --> 00:51:29.059
When Beard left, that time was crazy because I was in Germany and I had switched teams at this time.

00:51:29.059 --> 00:51:33.179
And now I was on a different team and we stayed in a hotel during COVID.

00:51:33.179 --> 00:51:34.900
Me, I was a new player.

00:51:34.900 --> 00:51:46.739
And I remember on April 1st, me going back and forth on the phone with Andrew Soros, he's my best friend, and we were just talking about, he's not leaving, just everybody sees the Twitter stuff, we're the same way.

00:51:46.739 --> 00:51:48.900
And I was like, there's no way he's leaving.

00:51:48.900 --> 00:51:55.300
And John Riley, who's the strength coach on his staff, I had talked with him back and forth and kind of the same thing.

00:51:55.300 --> 00:52:04.239
And long story short, he leaves and we're on the phone together as a Final Four squad with Kyler, because Kyler's still there.

00:52:04.239 --> 00:52:26.099
Kyler, we're all on FaceTime, like all of us, me, Tariq, Jerry, Davide, Matt, Andrew, all of us were on FaceTime when Beard comes down and he tells that team, he's going to Austin, you need anything? I love you, blah, blah, I'm out. And so we're like, wow. Seconds later, Luke Adams, he texts me, he's just like, hey, can you get the guys pushing for my dad?

00:52:26.099 --> 00:52:27.500
And I'm like, all right, no problem.

00:52:27.500 --> 00:52:28.900
Like, we're on the call.

00:52:28.900 --> 00:52:30.500
And so we start tweeting it.

00:52:30.500 --> 00:52:35.300
Long story short, I meet with, I think it was Kirby the next day.

00:52:35.300 --> 00:52:37.599
And it's like 4 a.m. in Germany.

00:52:37.599 --> 00:52:42.300
And then I talked to Dusty Womble twice, and Mark Adams is the coach.

00:52:42.300 --> 00:53:14.719
And in that situation, it taught me like, dang, here's a group of guys that left a legacy on this place that wanted to be included in just whatever these guys thought about a leader and a winner, okay, we want them. And so that taught me one thing. And so obviously that situation didn't work out for a lot of different reasons. Personally, my guy, he changed. I still have a relationship with Mark Adams, but it just wasn't the right fit. And fast forward to this time, I was in a locker room, I'm playing with the Mavs affiliate, Texas Legends.

00:53:14.719 --> 00:53:17.239
And before the game, I'm literally sitting down.

00:53:17.239 --> 00:53:21.280
I think we have the chaplain come in right before we go back for film.

00:53:21.280 --> 00:53:25.000
The chaplain comes in, and I get a call from Kirby Hokut.

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:26.159
And then I let him finish.

00:53:26.159 --> 00:53:26.960
The team goes in.

00:53:26.960 --> 00:53:29.320
I'm just like, nah, I'm taking this call, like, whatever.

00:53:29.320 --> 00:53:35.360
And so Kirby asked me to be on the committee.

00:53:35.360 --> 00:53:42.000
And I'm just like, in my head, I'm like, hell, yeah, obviously, like, yeah, like, but I told him, yeah, I'll do it.

00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:43.480
But I'm like, oh, this is awesome.

00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:44.480
This is really cool.

00:53:44.480 --> 00:53:46.119
It's a huge honor.

00:53:46.119 --> 00:53:51.960
And so and I told him like at that time, this is the most important thing on my agenda.

00:53:51.960 --> 00:53:53.519
Maybe it's wrong or not to my team.

00:53:53.519 --> 00:53:57.960
I said, literally, I this is the most important thing because I believe it.

00:53:57.960 --> 00:54:27.400
And I'm like, wait, I shouldn't feel obligated to like, oh, my team. I'm like, no, if I feel it, I'm going to say this is the most important thing. And so we we had this app. It's called Signal to where because at that time it was crazy. Names are going around. And and this app was like the secret app to where we can text each other that messages disappear location. So it was almost like a boy's fantasy group. Like I'm I'm getting text in my fantasy. Oh, this player, this player. I'm like, if you hear about a coach, drop him in.

00:54:27.400 --> 00:54:28.639
And then we all do research.

00:54:28.639 --> 00:54:31.440
And then we convene later and be like, OK, this is why this.

00:54:31.440 --> 00:54:35.360
And it just taught me a lot as a person, as in like, wait.

00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:39.079
And what I tell everybody, you can do way more than you think you can do.

00:54:39.079 --> 00:54:41.119
People are just people at the end of the day.

00:54:41.119 --> 00:54:45.119
And nobody has more smarts or nobody's intelligent more than.

00:54:45.119 --> 00:54:47.920
And maybe if they are, you have something new to add.

00:54:47.920 --> 00:54:53.800
And I literally saw behind the curtain of, OK, this is how decisions are made.

00:54:53.800 --> 00:54:54.519
All right.

00:54:54.519 --> 00:55:01.039
And I was on the phone with coaches because it's crazy because when this stuff went around, NBA coaches were calling me.

00:55:01.039 --> 00:55:03.199
And I'm just like, this is crazy.

00:55:03.199 --> 00:55:04.840
And they're lobbying.

00:55:04.840 --> 00:55:10.599
And I'm on the phone almost tired because I'm thinking I have a game the next day or have another flight.

00:55:10.599 --> 00:55:11.440
And I'm on the phone.

00:55:11.440 --> 00:55:18.119
And I'm like, yeah, yeah, to this coach who wants to be interviewed, like to get him a little farther along on the interview process.

00:55:18.119 --> 00:55:19.559
I'm like, bro, like this.

00:55:19.559 --> 00:55:20.880
It was almost like a lot.

00:55:20.880 --> 00:55:22.079
It was a lot.

00:55:22.079 --> 00:56:02.920
And so I say that with going back a little bit to whenever I was actually announced to everybody, I almost felt, I don't know if it's cynical, because one of my friends, and this is why people, you don't always listen to what they say. You got to listen to who they are and their perspective, and you don't have to accept that. And so a friend told me that, oh, they only want you because they know like you're the, like you said, the Matthew McConaughey, the guy that everybody loves. So if you sign off, then they're good. They only want you for that. And at first I was just like, dang, all right. But then I was like, no, when I was in some of the Zooms and talking, they need me here.

00:56:02.920 --> 00:56:04.420
I'm actually needed here.

00:56:04.420 --> 00:56:05.219
Like literally.

00:56:05.219 --> 00:56:10.139
And so I was like, okay, again, it goes back to don't listen to what people think from their own lens.

00:56:10.139 --> 00:56:11.340
That's their own experience.

00:56:11.340 --> 00:56:13.460
That's not yours, nor is it the truth.

00:56:13.460 --> 00:56:19.340
And so when I got there, I was like, okay, let me walk with the confidence of not only me, I say this quote all the time.

00:56:19.340 --> 00:56:21.340
I come as one by Stan is 10,000.

00:56:21.340 --> 00:56:24.139
And it wasn't about me.

00:56:24.139 --> 00:56:27.000
I'm thinking about our Red Raider fans.

00:56:27.000 --> 00:56:31.000
I'm thinking about kids that will come, what we should be.

00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:34.000
I'm thinking about our national scope, our national presence.

00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:35.000
I'm thinking about all that.

00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:41.000
So I'm like, OK, I'm locked in every single time, every single Zoom, every single call, every single flight meeting.

00:56:41.000 --> 00:56:42.000
I'm locked in.

00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:47.000
And I end up talking the most and grilling these coaches the most.

00:56:47.000 --> 00:56:55.440
I'm literally in a meeting, one of the meetings, we had this meeting in this big conference room.

00:56:55.440 --> 00:57:16.440
And so typical conference room table, there's a head of the table where the coach, the candidate would sit, and then right here next to him, looking at him, was me, on the other side, it was Coach McGuire, on right next to me was Kirby, on that side was Dusty, and then on this side it was Jonathan Boudreaux.

00:57:16.440 --> 00:57:21.440
And so the first one, I'm grilling on my mic right close to the max and all these questions.

00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:26.159
I'm like, dang, in my head, the voice is like, bro, why are you talking the most?

00:57:26.159 --> 00:57:36.440
Like, what are you doing? So literally the next candidate, I try to move to the back and sit there because I'm like, I don't want it to be a big deal. And I'm like, I'm going to be the next candidate.

00:57:36.440 --> 00:58:04.239
And I'm like, I'm going to be the next candidate. And I'm like, I don't want it to be about me. Everybody was like, boy, you better get back right there and ask him the same question. You know, I was just like, dang, like I really am needed. So it really taught me about one, who I would be, the legacy that I leave and just about life in general, that to don't say you're no for somebody else. Show up if you want to do something, do it, be that person and then they'll start calling you.

00:58:04.239 --> 00:58:10.599
Yeah, I think that's reflected in your story, taking advantage of opportunities when they come.

00:58:10.599 --> 00:58:16.840
Sometimes those opportunities don't come on the timing we would want, but we have to take advantage of them when they do.

00:58:16.840 --> 00:58:20.239
I love music and the emotions that they can convey.

00:58:20.239 --> 00:58:25.000
If we were to play a montage of your life, what song would be playing in the background and why.

00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:28.840
That's crazy, because this week I told myself I'm not going to listen to music.

00:58:28.840 --> 00:58:42.079
I'm just going to read audio books and listen to Pies and like Do Not Disturb on my phone. But like a montage of my life, there's this song, every worship song in the morning I listen to literally like three.

00:58:42.079 --> 00:58:43.400
I listen to Evidence.

00:58:43.400 --> 00:58:45.000
I think it's by Cody something.

00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:50.800
Evidence every morning I watch it on YouTube, listen to it.

00:58:50.800 --> 00:58:54.559
I listen to Trusting God, Promises.

00:58:54.559 --> 00:58:57.639
But those aren't the soundtracks, I would say.

00:58:57.639 --> 00:58:58.960
I don't know why I said that.

00:58:58.960 --> 00:59:02.360
Just those are the songs I listen to every single day, and it's on top of my mind.

00:59:02.360 --> 00:59:06.480
But the soundtrack I would listen to is Burner Boy.

00:59:06.480 --> 00:59:07.760
It's on his last album.

00:59:07.760 --> 00:59:10.440
It's called Domini, his name, Domini.

00:59:10.440 --> 00:59:12.360
I think it's Domini, I Love You, or something.

00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:14.320
Love Domini is love his name.

00:59:14.320 --> 00:59:49.199
Anyways, it's the last track. It's How Bad Could It Be. And it's an emotional song. It's like, literally one of the lyrics, it has people answer the question of, when I'm in a bad mood, you do blank. And then all these people, it's a montage of people answering, when I'm in a bad mood, I do this. When I'm in a bad mood, I do this. And so one of the, I'm almost getting chills because I literally have cried to the song. It says, when you're feeling mad and you're angry, when you feel like you're lonely, when you feel as sad as you can be, when you feel as sad as you can feel, say, how bad could it be?

00:59:49.199 --> 00:59:51.760
How bad could it be?

00:59:51.760 --> 00:59:55.400
So that would be, that would definitely be the song.

00:59:55.400 --> 00:59:56.519
That's powerful.

00:59:56.519 --> 01:00:02.800
I have a playlist that I've put together with every guest that I've done with their song, and then I've got a page where I link all those out.

01:00:02.800 --> 01:00:07.000
So that's kind of a cool way to tie everybody into the idea.

01:00:07.000 --> 01:00:07.679
That's great.

01:00:07.679 --> 01:00:09.400
That's cool.

01:00:09.400 --> 01:00:09.920
All right.

01:00:09.920 --> 01:00:14.559
If you could go back in time and give younger North just one piece of advice, what would it be and why?

01:00:14.559 --> 01:00:15.679
What is it they say?

01:00:15.679 --> 01:00:16.559
Excuse my French.

01:00:16.559 --> 01:00:19.800
Don't give a damn what anybody thinks.

01:00:19.800 --> 01:00:44.360
Don't give a damn when anybody thinks about you and what you could be and your career and what path you're taking and if you look like everybody else or if you're acting like everybody else or if you have a thought that you don't want to express in a class because you think people are going to laugh or if you even just see the world differently from other people, who cares?

01:00:44.360 --> 01:01:10.239
One, in a kind of, not the best perspective, but you won't think about those people anyways, but in the better perspective of you grow from where you're at, you grow through what you go through. And so it's like you got to go through it with the knowledge of, okay, I have a long life to live. And if I'm looking at my life as a clock, this is probably like not even the first minute. It's like the first millisecond and life goes on.

01:01:10.239 --> 01:01:37.440
And I got to grow through this minute to get to the next, the next, the next. It's not about where you're at. I would tell myself like, boy, chill out one. You don't have to, oh, I got to do this and do that. No, like chill out, relax and do what you want to do. Obviously, with the foundation of your family, you're blessed in your privilege to come from a family of one. They work hard. My mom's a nurse. My dad's a pharmacist and pastor. You have those values. You know what that looks like. Two, you have faith.

01:01:37.440 --> 01:01:42.159
You have your foundation. Do whatever the hell you want, because it's afforded to you with the family that you got.

01:01:42.159 --> 01:01:48.679
Like a lot of kids in my privileged situation, they don't take chances because they're so, oh, I got to grow.

01:01:48.679 --> 01:01:51.239
Let's say the worst idea in your mind happens.

01:01:51.239 --> 01:01:55.079
And we're going to fall back to a pretty good foundation.

01:01:55.079 --> 01:01:56.320
You're privileged to have.

01:01:56.320 --> 01:01:58.920
So take more chances and stand out on your courage.

01:01:58.920 --> 01:02:01.199
That's what I would say.

01:02:01.199 --> 01:02:02.400
That's great.

01:02:02.400 --> 01:02:04.039
All right, last one I ask of everybody.

01:02:04.039 --> 01:02:07.920
What for you, Norton Odease, remains undone?

01:02:07.920 --> 01:02:10.360
What for me remains undone?

01:02:10.360 --> 01:02:11.960
Let me really think about this.

01:02:11.960 --> 01:02:13.400
Man, I don't know.

01:02:13.400 --> 01:02:17.000
Maybe it's a default answer, but it goes back to legacy.

01:02:17.000 --> 01:02:18.360
How would I be remembered?

01:02:18.360 --> 01:02:29.159
Who will people say that I am?

01:02:29.159 --> 01:02:31.599
I stubbornly, I hate it.

01:02:31.599 --> 01:02:36.119
I'm just a weird or interested, curious guy about all the abilities that I gave me.

01:02:36.119 --> 01:02:39.000
I hate when people just say, oh, that basketball player.

01:02:39.000 --> 01:02:40.360
Remember me for the basketball.

01:02:40.360 --> 01:02:42.599
Oh, that's the guy from the final four.

01:02:42.599 --> 01:02:48.840
Obviously I shouldn't hate it because you did something, you left an impact on people's lives that goes on for generations.

01:02:48.840 --> 01:03:39.000
And it wasn't just about you putting the ball through the hoop. It's like the feeling you gave them is how you played what it applies to with life, like pushing through the injuries, pushing through losing family members, the perseverance, the toughness, the courage. It means more to them than a game. And it means more to me than a game. But for some reason in my head, I'm just like, all right, I don't want to be remembered for that. I want to do something greater with other given traits and talents that God gave me. I got to build that. I got to grow through that. I got to fine-tune and rewire who I am and look at myself as, okay, more than just a player, more than just a basketball player. So I'm at a spot of when you ask me what is left undone, it's my life and a legacy that I lead and that I leave to those that are all around me.

01:03:39.000 --> 01:03:40.639
Yeah, that's great.

01:03:40.639 --> 01:03:42.639
I think I would sum it up this way.

01:03:42.639 --> 01:03:49.079
I was introduced to who you are by watching you play basketball, but I feel like I've come to know you through your show.

01:03:49.079 --> 01:03:51.679
And I enjoyed watching you play.

01:03:51.679 --> 01:03:55.800
I love seeing the lives that you're changing and the impact that you're making.

01:03:55.800 --> 01:04:01.000
And so it's been a real treat for me to see you continue to grow and flourish.

01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:03.840
And it's been a real honor to have you on the show.

01:04:03.840 --> 01:04:04.840
Thank you.

01:04:04.840 --> 01:04:05.840
Thank you so much.

01:04:05.840 --> 01:04:06.840
I think what you're doing is awesome and great.

01:04:06.840 --> 01:04:07.840
It's definitely unique.

01:04:07.840 --> 01:04:32.840
I'm definitely taking a lot of tips from even your site was pretty great, high level, to the name, to the brand, and to some of the things that you do because I think it's important to find a way how to capitalize on, obviously, your serving and your blessing people with what you're doing, but in a way that I need right now to make it an actual thing for you because it's like, okay, you can't, it's unsustainable to just do everything yourself, yourself, yourself.

01:04:32.840 --> 01:04:34.840
You need a little help.

01:04:34.840 --> 01:04:43.079
And you helped me by just watching the way you structure things and even again to your show and kind of the subject matter that you face and that you tackle.

01:04:43.079 --> 01:04:47.280
It's definitely unique and it's definitely not tackled and talked about enough.

01:04:47.280 --> 01:04:50.440
So I credit you for what you're doing.

01:04:50.440 --> 01:04:53.139
I'm Norance Odiase and I am undone.

01:04:53.139 --> 01:04:57.219
For Norance, it's been a journey of learning, hard work and discipline.

01:04:57.219 --> 01:05:09.059
While he probably could have taken an easier, more selfish path to self-exaltation, he's instead chosen to invest, to pay it forward, to build and leave a legacy for those who follow in his footsteps.

01:05:09.059 --> 01:05:16.000
And in the process, he's learned more about himself, his faith and his purpose to have a grander platform.

01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:20.920
I hope you found as much inspiration from his story as I did.

01:05:20.920 --> 01:05:24.000
For more info on today's episode, be sure to check it out on the web.

01:05:24.000 --> 01:05:32.920
Simply go to undonepodcast.com backslash ep54 to see the notes, links, and images related to today's guest, Norence Odiase.

01:05:32.920 --> 01:05:49.599
Coming up, I've got the powerful story of former college football player turned motivational speaker Fletcher Cleaves.

01:05:49.599 --> 01:05:58.239
Then state champion Lubbock Estacado Matador head basketball coach Tony Wagner shares how he's overcome adversity and become a champion as well.

01:05:58.239 --> 01:06:37.599
Then fitness personality Geo Marine drops in. So stay tuned, this and more coming up on Becoming Undone. Becoming Undone is a NitroHype Creative production written and produced by me, Toby Brooks. If you or someone you know has a story of resilience and victory to share for Becoming Undone, contact me at undonepodcast.com. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn at becomingundonepod. And follow me at Toby J Brooks on Twitter, X, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Listen, subscribe, and leave me a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:06:37.599 --> 01:06:40.599
Until next time everybody, keep getting better.

01:06:40.599 --> 01:06:42.599
you