Despite Missing Family Back Home in Nigeria, Ben Ahmed Is Grateful for Opportunity to Be a Cowboy

STILLWATER — Virtually everyone sacrifices to some degree to be successful in the Big 12.

Not everyone gives as much as freshman Benjamin Ahmed who hasn’t seen in family back home in Nigeria in 3.5 years.

“The mental part is just the hardest part, but like just the fact that you know you being here is helping your family and making them have a better life, I think that is what keeps me going every day,” Ahmed said.

The freshman missed the first 10 games of the season recovering from preseason foot surgery. The No. 111th player in the 247Sports rankings made an impact right away, grabbing seven rebounds and scoring six points in his 7-minute debut on Dec. 18th against Kansas City.

“I think Ben’s doing a good job,” OSU coach Steve Lutz said. “Don’t want to put too much weight on his shoulders. He’s still a freshman. He started his first game against (No. 25) Central Florida the other night, and probably didn’t have his best game. So let’s not, you know, let’s not overblow it, but I think he’s got a bright future.”

Ahmed said he’s still working his way into game shape and learns a lot each time he steps out onto the court. In recent weeks, the 6-foot-10, 275-pound big man’s physicality powered his highlights. On Tuesday night, UCF used it against him, putting him in foul trouble early which limited his minutes.

Regardless of how things were going its clear from his effort on the court that Ahmed is grateful to be back on the court.

“Just playing with a chip on my shoulder,” Ahmed said, when asked what fuels his high-energy style of play. “Not a lot of people from where I’m from are right here at this moment. So every time I just step on the floor, it’s just like a privilege to be here.

“So I just can’t waste the opportunity.”

Not with how much he’s giving up, a list which gets longer every single day he’s away. Recently Ahmed added his sister’s wedding to the list of special occasions he missed since coming to the United States at the age of only 16.

The rest of the Cowboys help him get through some of the lower moments.

“I have teammates that just make me feel like I’m their brother,” Ahmed said. “So if I feel like I’m down I just go hang with my teammates and I got my brothers around me.”

Giving back helps too, and over the summer, Ahmed took some of his NIL money and bought gear to send back to Nigeria.

“25+ shoes, bags, clothes and our very own team jersey might not sound like much to some… but for me it means everything,” Ahmed wrote on Instagram in August alongside footage of guys showing off the new shoes Ahmed gifted them. “… Growing up back home in Nigeria, I know how hard and expensive it is to get a basketball shoe or gear and I know that joy in getting free shoes.”

Ahmed described this as a “reminder of where I come from and why I keep going” in his post. He also said he hopes to make this an annual tradition that gets bigger and bigger every year.

For now that and the regular calls home will have to sustain him because Ahmed still doesn’t know when he will see his family next.

“I always lean on the positive,” Ahmed said. “I can take care of my family from right here, so I can’t really complain, like, that is a great opportunity.”