Wednesday, February 21, 2018

T H E O ’ C O L LY

W e d n e s d ay F e b r u a ry 2 1 , 2 0 1 8

‘Our MVP’ pick-up basketball, roller coasters and engineering helped bring Mitchell Solomon to oklahoma state.

PHOTO BY T.C. BREWSTER/O’COLLY

Mitchell Solom on

cover s t o ry

Solomon preparing for life after basketball ca m e ron Jo u r dan Sports Editor @ Ca m _Jour da n

Mitchell Solomon waited, peering out the dining room window.

His eyes darted between the cars passing down the neighborhood street, the glow of the evening sun casting shadows on the grass. With each passing car, Solomon grew impatient waiting for his father, Andy Solomon, to get home from work.

Solomon sat on the window sill, which was about a foot off the ground, his basketball resting next to him. He was 4, yet there weren’t many things on his mind once the sun started setting.

When the sun set, it was time to shoot hoops with Andy Solomon. It was something they did each day after Andy Solomon got home from work.

When his father’s car turned the corner onto the street, Solomon swiftly snatched the ball and headed to the driveway.

The goal was filled with water, holding its place on the edge of the pavement. Solomon preferred shooting from the right side of the sloped court

because he was higher, an advantage for the young but witty boy.

Conversation wasn’t plentiful when shots were going up, but one day, Solomon told his father of a dream that came to light on the slanted pavement.

“I want to play college basketball,” Solomon said.

Learning how gadgets work Solomon rushes to the nearest roller coaster when he walks into an amusement park.

A senior forward on the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team, Solomon has always been infatuated with how things function. Solomon never took a math or science class at Bixby High School because he attended Tulsa Tech, where he spent each morning from his freshman to senior year working hands-on, learning physics and technological aspects of how things operate.

Solomon is an avid roller coaster fan. Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is one of his favorites. When he was 11, Solomon and his father had a FastPass, so they strolled

past long lines into vacant seats, constantly riding through the mountain. They lost track of how many times they heard safety procedures, though they weren’t listening.

They were waiting for the jolt forward and clicking chains, inclining steadily like their adrenaline.

“He has always been my roller coaster buddy,” Andy Solomon said.

Roller coaster rides turned into AAU basketball games.

Solomon’s basketball career took precedence over family vacation as he grew to become Oklahoma’s No. 1 basketball recruit in the 2014 class, according to ESPN. Although Solomon played basketball during the summer months, he learned about the mechanical aspect of technology when he was in school. A mechanical engineering technology major, Solomon peers into how things function and looks at life in a different way.

Andy Solomon helped pique Solomon’s interest when he was young, guiding him through Tulsa Tech and into OSU’s engineering program.

Solomon craves hands-on

Devin L. Wilber/O’COLLY

Oklahoma State forward Mitchell Solomon poses for a portrait before the 2016-17 season.

STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 3

2018

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

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PAGE 2

Mitchell Solomon

c ov e r s to ry STORY CONTINUEd from PAGE 2

work, investigating the science behind the world and devices he uses every day.

“I fell in love with trying to make things work and figuring out how things work,” Solomon said. “You see cars going down the road every day, and you don’t really know how they work. It has been really interesting to see and learn the physics and different things behind what makes things work.”

Solomon has excelled in the mechanical engineering technology program, and Aaron Alexander credits Solomon’s work ethic for his success.

Alexander, a mechanical engineering technology assistant professor at OSU, has had Solomon in multiple classes. He said Solomon’s commitment to excellence in the classroom is unparalleled.

OSU vs. texas Tech When: 6 p.m. Wednesday Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena Watch: ESPNU

Zach Hake/O’COLLY

OSU’s Mitchell Solomon (left) and Baylor’s King McClure fight over a loose ball in OSU’s game against Baylor on Feb. 6.

When Solomon isn’t diving for loose balls in Gallagher-Iba Arena, he is studying for a quiz or test he needs to take early because he will be on the road for a game when the exam date comes. His 6-foot-9 frame fills professor’s offices before and after practices, discussing homework and reviewing

exams.

The curriculum is strenuous.

Late nights and finding any free time to review materials are common occurrences for Solomon, but Alexander recognizes his studious tendencies.

“His performance is pretty amazing,” Alexander said. “A lot of these classes are going

to have substantial homework.

It really comes down to, they have to have an incredible work ethic. And thankfully, Mitchell does. He works very, very hard.”

Solomon credits Andy Solomon for his attention to detail and work ethic. When Solomon was young, he cherished how dedicated his father was to his craft. Andy Solomon tucked Solomon into bed before heading back to work, doing what he could early in his career in the oil and pipeline business to help provide for his family.

Solomon appreciated the diligent passion. He has always

633 N. Husband

Thursday, February 22

• 8 am, Wes Watkins Center - Symposia Persica, First International Biennial Conference and Graduate Workshop of the Persianate World and Central Eurasia • 9 am, 427 HSCI Building - Department of Design, Housing and Merchandising Gallery Exhibit of 2017 Research Artifacts • 10 am, 010 Willard Hall - 21st Century Literacies Lecture Series • 7:30 pm, Seretean Center for the Performing Arts - OSU Theatre Presents: “How I Learned to Drive”

Friday, February 23

• 8 am, Wes Watkins Center - Symposia Persica, First International Biennial Conference and Graduate Workshop of the Persianate World and Central Eurasia • 8 am, OSU Tulsa, North Hall - Chautaqua Conference on Family Resilience • 9 am, 427 HSCI Building - Department of Design, Housing and Merchandising Gallery Exhibit of 2017 Research Artifacts • 7:30 pm, Seretean Center for the Performing Arts - OSU Theatre Presents: “How I Learned to Drive”

*ResearchWeek.okstate.edu

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*Visit the website or app for a complete schedule

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followed Andy Solomon’s lead.

A mechanical engineering technology degree leads to myriad opportunities, and as a senior, Solomon is closer to the end of his basketball career each day.

With four regular-season games left and no aspirations to turn pro, Solomon is delighted to enter a vast field of career opportunities.

“I’d like to be in the energy field,” Solomon said. “Oil would be cool, but I chose mechanical because of how broad it is. It’s so open to what I can do with a mechanical degree.

I would take any job that I can get.”

‘He’s our MVP’ Solomon finally sat down.

During OSU’s upset victory against then-No. 7 Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 3,

Solomon fouled out after scoring nine points and grabbing seven rebounds in 23 minutes.

He sulked toward the Cowboys’ bench, and OSU coach Mike Boynton was the first to greet him, wrapping his arms around Solomon’s head while praising his leader.

Solomon plopped on the bench, but it was the first time he had sat down since tipoff.

He stands when he is not in the game, swaying like a skyscraper in the Oklahoma wind. Basketball has decimated his body, causing ligament tears in his knees and bone spurs in his ankles, and he doesn’t want to sit when he is out for worry of something flaring up and making him ineffective on the court.

Solomon fears letting his team down. His high school STORY CONTINUES ON PAGE 8

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PAGE 7

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c ove r s t o ry

M i tc h e l l Solomon

633 N. Husband

STORY CONTINUEd from PAGE 3

coach, Scott Padek, said Solomon was hardest on himself whenever they lost close games because, in Solomon’s eyes, everything fell on him.

In high school, Solomon dived for loose balls and stayed after games to pick up trash.

In OSU’s victory against Oklahoma on Jan. 20, Solomon stole a ball from Trae Young and dived on the floor, beating the quicker, agile point guard to the ball. The sequence didn’t surprise Padek. He witnessed it every game for four years.

“I wish I could say we just had to coach his work ethic up,” Padek said. “We did try to reward kids for people being first on the floor after loose balls, but Mitch didn’t do that. If there was ever a kid here who didn’t really need to do the little things because he was worried about risking injury, it was Mitch because he had scholarships when nobody else out here has that.

“I told the guys, ‘You have Mitch, who has a scholarship lined up, and he is not afraid to hurl himself into the fray.’”

Solomon is often on the floor, scooping loose balls from Eddie Sutton Court and hurling them to teammates for easy fast-break points.

Boynton praises Solomon’s prowess, something that rarely shows up in the box score. In a Dec. 16 victory against thenNo. 19 Florida State, Solomon scored a tip-in basket with 5.4 seconds left to take the lead.

With 0.9 seconds left, he took a charge to seal the win.

Andy Solomon said Solomon understands space; he always knows where he needs to be on the court. There is not a direct application of engineering on the basketball court, but Solomon is witty. He is in a pristine position whether he is rebounding or defending the

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Devin L. Wilber/O’COLLY

OSU forward Mitchell Solomon dunks in an exhibition game against East Central on Nov. 6, 2015, in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

pick-and-roll.

(Solomon) is the most valuable person in the locker room,” Boynton said. “He’s about what I’m about. … It’s effort.”

One of the greats Lisa Solomon knew never to shorten his name again.

On a spring break trip to Florida, Lisa Solomon, Solomon’s mother, was chauffeuring Solomon and his friends, who referred to him as “Mitch.” At a stop as bodies were shuffling out of the car, Lisa Solomon turned to remind Solomon of something.

“They were all getting out and I said, ‘Mitch, don’t forget blah blah blah,’” Lisa Solomon said. “I called him Mitch, and immediately, I was like that’s weird because I never call him Mitch. And from the third row in the backseat, I hear, ‘Yeah, that was weird. Don’t ever call me that again, Mom.’” It’s always Mitchell to Andy and Lisa Solomon.

A boy who made a declaration that he wanted to play college basketball has become a Cowboy great. Solomon became the Cowboys’ eighth member of the 500-rebound,

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

100-block and 50 percent shooting club after a loss at Arkansas on Jan. 27, joining Bryant Reeves and Byron Houston, among others.

Solomon grew up a Cowboy, though he had offers from Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Stanford. Stanford was too far, and though the Sooners and Red Raiders were strong suitors, Solomon has always been a Cowboy at heart.

Instead of waiting in the window, Solomon sits in front of his locker inside GallagherIba Arena. He is as blue collar as big men in basketball come, something OSU fans will remember him for as his career comes to an end.

He doesn’t mind doing all of the little things because it’s how he wants to be remembered.

“If someone said my name, I would want someone to think that guy gave it all he had,” Solomon said. “That guy didn’t let up, a guy who worked hard and gave it everything he had.”

Cameron Jourdan is a sports media senior from Edmond. He can be reached at sports.ed@ocolly.com.

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