Citizen of the World

By #USCBHM | USC Athletics Black History Month

February 22^nd, 2016

By Caroline Deisley

Growing up as the ninth of 12 children, USC women’s basketball senior Temi Fagbenle has been forging her own path since the day she was born.

Fagbenle’s family is originally from Nigeria, but Temi was born in Maryland before her parents moved the entire clan across the pond to London. Understandably so, when people ask Fagbenle where she’s from, she’s speechless. Where does she begin to answer that question?

“I’m from Nigeria and London, but I was born in America, it doesn’t really make sense,” explained Fagbenle. “But, I guess that’s the beauty of my life. I’m a citizen of the world. I can make anywhere my home.”

Independent at a young age, Fagbenle searched for a way she could diversify herself from her other siblings. As just one in a dozen, she was constantly fighting for attention in her own home. But even more than that, she was also searching for her identity - a difficult task in a world cluttered with hand-me-down clothes and older siblings’ shadows. Looking for something new, Fagbenle found an early answer in one of London’s greatest pastimes.

“Tennis was my first love,” gushed Fagbenle. “Me and my sister wanted to be the Williams sisters. I was going to be Venus and she was going to be Serena. I had a killer serve and everything. Especially me being 6-foot-4, my serve was something.”

But the challenges of growing up in a large household soon crushed Fagbenle’s dreams of hoisting a trophy on Centre Court at Wimbledon. One day, when Fagbenle’s father was driving her home after tennis practice, he told her tennis lessons were too expensive and too difficult to balance with the lives of her brothers and sisters. He immediately suggested a solution by signing Fagbenle up for club basketball. Little did she know, what seemed like the end of the world was actually just an opening to an entirely new one, one that would take her further than she could ever imagine.

Eager to make the most of the situation and still seeking a path that would set herself apart, the 14-year-old hit the ground running with basketball. Early signs, however, did not indicate a bright future.

“My first practice – it was in shambles,” admits Fagbenle. “I was literally like a baby deer. I fell down every single time. I remember the image of my first practice vividly because I was scared out of my mind. I hated basketball, but I persevered.”

This perseverance was something instilled in Fagbenle from a young age by a member of her family, and it proved to be a vital character trait for what was yet to come.

“Just never give up. I don’t know who told me that, but I definitely know it was someone in my family. Perseverance. Keep keeping on. Keep fighting. You will get to where you want to get to just never give up.”

Through this perseverance and often a little bit of stubbornness, Fagbenle quickly overcame her early clumsiness with the sport and even more rapidly excelled. Physically, it was a perfect match, and with the help of her club coaches, she began to get noticed. Keeping with her independent spirit, Fagbnele left home at the age of 15 to play basketball at a boarding school in New Jersey.

However, the transition wasn’t easy an easy one. In a new country and completely on her own, Fagbenle spent many nights in her first month abroad crying in her room. But once again it was her perseverance that helped her overcome the homesickness, and ultimately her courageous decision to venture away from home served to help her find her own identity.

“Basketball has taken me so many places around the world,” Fagbenle reflected. “It’s literally a passport for me.”

Fagbenle knew that basketball would open doors for her, especially when it came to an education. As she jokes now, when Harvard calls, you can’t say no. So when offered a scholarship at one of the most academically rigorous universities in the world, she took her talents to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Upon arrival, Fagbenle lost a year of eligibility when she was forced to sit out her freshman season while the NCAA investigated her recruitment. At the time, she was incredibly frustrated and confused at facing yet another setback on her road to pursuing her dream. But four years later, she’s come to see the obstacle as one of just many detours-turned-opportunities in her life.

Currently on her most recent adventure, Fagbenle is spending the extra year of eligibility she gained after the NCAA’s investigation in Los Angeles at USC. As a graduate transfer, the 6-foot-4 forward earned a co-captain position after being with the Trojans for just a few weeks. In just four months in Cardinal & Gold, she has racked up nine double-doubles and leads the team in both scoring and rebounding.

Fagbenle gushes when she reflects on her experience as a Trojan and the fact that it was even possible in the first place. But as she has seen throughout her life, what originally looked like an obstacle turned out to be just another opportunity for her to explore the world.

Basketball has taken Fagbenle around the world from England to the United States and beyond when she traveled with the British National Team as it qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

“I feel like I can’t sit still. I haven’t sat still since I was 15. I just want to keep moving, keep going and experience the world and people and cultures. Once you’ve experience culture and people, it opens your mind to new things and new experiences. You become more of a whole person.”

Though her current venture is not quite over, Fagbenle’s free spirit is already considering her next adventure. She wants to become an actress, but naturally not a conventional Hollywood starlet. Fagbenle wants to be a giant or other mythical creature on a show like Game of Thrones. However, she first needs to go back to one place she can always call home – Nigeria.

“Those are my roots. You can’t take that away from someone who has grown up with it, who has imbibed the culture since birth.”

In the midst of her independent life, Fagbenle still longs for the opportunity to be home with her family – all 11 brothers and sisters ranging from ages eight to 40. She craves “efo”, a spinach vegetable soup and the sound of her family speaking Yoruba, their native language. It’s these realizations and twinges of homesickness that remind Fagbenle of her true identity. While her answer to ‘where are you from?’ may continue to evolve, two constants will always remain – her roots and basketball.