The students all chanted his name (no clapping). He was given a television interview immediately following the game. While he talked with the press outside the media room, Bruin fans old and young came in a continuous stream wanting just to shake his hand and tell him how proud they were.
For the second time this season, redshirt junior guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, the unheralded former-walk-on, hit the buzzer-beating shot of the game to give UCLA the 62-61 victory over visiting Washington. And what was the most overwhelming emotion for a young man given the night’s spotlight?
“What really feels good is seeing my teammates so excited,” he said. “We’re learning to work harder and care more about the success of this team.”
They sounded like the articulately crafted words of a head coach, which, for those who don’t know Abdul-Hamid, might be strange to hear from the lips of a basketball player just minutes removed from the defining moment of his athletic career.
UCLA coach Ben Howland was not surprised though. For him, there could not be a more fitting player to lift his team up from the depths of a devastating 21-point loss to rival USC.
“I couldn’t be happier for a player that I’ve coached since I’ve been in coaching than to have Mustafa hit that shot,” he said. “No one has worked harder or been more committed to the program.”
After surrendering a full-court layup by the Huskies’ junior guard Venoy Overton to put his team up by one, the Bruins had just three seconds for a prayer.
Catching a near-perfect outlet pass from senior guard Michael Roll, Abdul-Hamid dribbled to the top of the key and gave a gigantic pump fake that sent Overton into the air. Then he answered the call.
The spirit was definitely running through him, according to his teammates.
“First off,” freshman forward Reeves Nelson said to open his post-game interview. “I’d like to thank the Lord for Mustafa Abdul-Hamid.”
“I prayed very hard for this game,” Howland said. “God does answer your prayers.”
Howland recalled the many times he’s seen Abdul-Hamid working on his shot. And even though he averages just nine minutes a game in only 10 contests so far this year, his commitment has been second-to-none, according to his coach.
“He’ll be playing more obviously,” Howland said while lauding Abdul-Hamid’s overall play tonight.
Although his numbers were not fantastic, two-for-three from the floor with one assist, Abdul-Hamid was essential to the Bruins’ zone defense, which shut down the Huskies in the second half. Washington, the highest-scoring team in the Pac-10, was held to just 20 points after the break.
In UCLA’s first exhibition match of the season against NAIA-school Concordia, Abdul-Hamid bailed out his team with a 3-pointer from almost the same spot. The first game-winner was certainly clutch, but last night’s performance may be the shot in the arm that the Bruins so badly desire at this point.
“No offense to Concordia, but (the Huskies) were a much better team,” Abdul-Hamid said. “We really needed this.”
The 6-foot-2-inch guard from Missouri was not recruited as a scholarship player, but he still turned down offers to play at the University of Chicago and Harvard, scholarships that Howland called the “full boat.” Two years after joining the team, Howland made Abdul-Hamid a scholarship player.
At the beginning of the season, with a thin list of point guards at his disposal, Howland said Abdul-Hamid would be thrust into tough situations whether he liked it or not. But nobody probably expected it to come like this.
“He’s going to go on and do great things with his life,” Howland said. “It’s so rewarding and so nice to have (it be) a kid like him, a great example of a student athlete.”