Going Pro

So people tend to come to me. They wanna know how tall I am. If I play basketball, where I played. Before we know it we are in 10, 15 minute deep in the conversation. And once you connect with people, yes, everything else become a lot easier from that point on. I grew up in Senegal west Africa. I'm the baby of eight siblings. The first year I played basketball I, I almost quit. 'Cause I had, had no shoes. I played barefoot 'cause the biggest size I could find was a size 11 and I was size 14. I had a neighbor, he was doing business in the U.S. And I told him I think I'm gonna quit. And he said why? I said 'cause I have no shoes. He said I think we are the same size, come by the house, I'll give you a pair. And he gave me these brand new white Nikes. It was unbelievable. For me a poor kid having brand new white Nikes was a big deal. Without those shoes most likely I would've quit. That lead into me meeting Greg Winston, former basketball player from San Diego, California. Greg saw some potential in me and he's like okay let's do this. When I get back to the states I'm gonna try to find you a school. Came back to the U.S., two weeks later he called me and he said hey, I found you a school. Before you know it I moved to San Diego. Within a few months just playing basketball the word spread out. I had all the west coast schools, east coast schools recruiting me all over the country. That was a no look pass into Moulaye who scored it. About a five footer. That was a nice shot. When I got to Kansas having the privilege to play for two of the best college basketball coaches in America period, in the world I should say. You know one year under Roy Williams and the remaining three years under coach Bill Self. Both hall of fame coaches, you know hundreds of wins, national championships, you name it. They have a belief system. Those men, their words mean something. Whatever they tell you you can take it to the bank. And they have a process. They really have a really defined process and everything revolve around the process. Which is very similar to what we do at Dimensional. We have a strong philosophy, a belief in the power of markets. We have an unbelievable process to give us the track record we have. After my junior year my number one goal was to play in the NBA. But I was diagnosed with some degenerative disc in my back. And the doctor told me if I keep playing basketball I might not be able to walk in 10 years. I had been working towards this dream for the past 15 plus years, and overnight that dream got shattered. But I always knew there's life after basketball. So I went back to KU and got my MBA. Throughout my life every step of the way I have had a coach. Not just a basketball coach, but a life coach in general. Sometimes when you talk about coaches people just refer to athletics. But to me coaching is beyond athletics because at one junction in your life they help you really overcome some obstacles. And that's what the financial advisors do. The market is very volatile and there's a lot of noise on a day to day basis. Having a coach like coach Williams and Bill Self help us tune out the noise. Truly at Dimensional that's the case. We all strive for success and delivering an outstanding investment experience to any investor. And our ultimate goal is we help clients focus on the big picture. I have had some great people in my life that have really helped me, coach me, throughout this journey. And there's no way I could've done this by myself. If I wanted to write my own life I probably couldn't write it any better.