Photo Courtesy Vadim Halimov/George Brown College
Coming off a season where he broke all kinds of OCAA records while being named the CCAA Player of the Year, ON POINT’s Ray Harripaul spoke with George Brown College’s super-forward Vadim Halimov to re-live one of the greatest seasons in CCAA history…
Q. What’s your background (home land)? When did you start playing basketball (age)? If you played another sport was it an easy transition for you?
A. I’m from Uzbekistan, I started playing basketball about a year after arrival to Canada at age 17. I used to play soccer, it definitely helped me learn the game of basketball a little quicker, especially the footwork side of it.
Q.When this season started, did you ever think you would be the OCAA all time leader scorer, single season record holder for most points, single season free throw record holder, OCAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and the CCAA Player of the Year? If you can sum up your past season in a few sentences, what would you say?
A. I didn’t know any of that, except I knew that i needed to score 27.8 points a game to break Anthony’s(Batchelor-Durham College) record. However, I didn’t think it was going to be possible, because I never averaged over 19 points per game. To sum up this season, I have one thing to say “It’s always good to leave with a BANG!”. Luckily with the right coaching and great teammates I was able to retire from OCAA with a BANG.
Q. Take us back to the moment you set the record, what was going on internally for you?
A. I was very happy and thankful to be able to do it on that day because a lot of people came out to watch. There was a bus coming from GBC to Seneca full of fans, my family and about 30 friends that I had invited. It would have been very disappointing to fail to break it on that day. I also felt relieved, because I felt pressure to break it.
Q. What’s next for Vadim The Dream? Where would you like to end up and is basketball in your future?
A. Ever since I picked a basketball I always wanted to play professionally, anywhere. So I’m definitely not done paying yet. I’m going to try out for as many teams as I can and I’m going to keep training until I can say I played at a professional level.
Q. To the young ones out there reading this, what advice do you have for them?
A. The first advice is “Time Management”. You have to be able to manage your time at school, get the right amount of training in, consistently, and manage a life outside of basketball, because you don’t want to “burn out”, starting hating basketball. The second and last advice, don’t listen to anyone, stay positive and focused on your goal.
Thanks to Vadim”The Dream” Halimov for this great interview. You can contact Vadim via Twitter: @vadim_the_dream
By: Ray Harripaul
