Omaha South's Arop becomes youngest player to commit to Huskers (left war-torn South Sudan)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/omaha-south-s-arop-becomes-youngest-player-to-commit-to/article_7c40bcaa-3cd6-5b47-89de-0b56c1164260.html




JAMES R. BURNETT/THE WORLD-HERALD

Akueliny Deng Mayen hugs her son Aguek Arop at a press conference on Aug. 18, 2014, where he announced he would play basketball for Nebraska. His father, Arop Alang Makoor, also attended.

POSTED: MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014 1:00 AM | UPDATED: 10:56 AM, MON AUG 18, 2014.
By Lee Barfknecht / World-Herald Bureau

Any day a high school student secures a free college education is worth celebrating, which is why some Omaha South officials and students gathered Monday morning to salute Aguek Arop, who committed to play basketball at Nebraska.

But for Arop, the day meant even more because of the two people seated to his right – Mom and Dad.

“If it wasn’t for them,’’ he said, “I don’t know where I would be.’’

The Arop family (pronounced uh-ROPE), risking personal peril, left war-torn South Sudan when Aguek and his three brothers were grade-school age, sought refuge in the United States and eventually settled in Omaha.

FULL story at link.

[Omaha Steve]

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