Several Ducks enjoyed an extended bath in the media spotlight during Oregon’s run to the Sweet 16. But one Duck’s past hung over him, just as he was playing on the biggest stage in his life.
Arsalan Kazemi entered what was ultimately the last game of his college career averaging 9.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, news enough for a program that hadn’t seen a player average double-digit rebounds in a season since the 20th century.
But the mainstream media’s story on Kazemi stretched further back to Rice University, where allegations had surfaced that the 6-foot-7 Iranian was subjected to “insulting and discriminating remarks” by Owls’ athletic director Rick Greenspan, according to Sports Illustrated.
Kazemi’s path to Oregon was always shrouded in a bit of intrigue. After becoming a double-double machine and earning all-conference honors at Rice, Kazemi joined at least five other players in a mass exodus from the program.
Only after filing a hardship waiver with the NCAA was Kazemi allowed to join Oregon’s basketball team and compete in his senior season.
Documents obtained by SI.com detailed Greenspan’s alleged abusive remarks that extended beyond Kazemi to two fellow Middle Eastern players, including USC transfer Omar Oraby and an assistant coach.
Among them included slights at Kazemi’s ethnicity and Muslim faith.
“In Kazemi’s waiver request, he claimed that Greenspan told (Marco) Marcos to ‘recruit more terrorists’ on multiple occasions,” reported SI.com’s Thayer Evans. “(Kazemi) also alleged that when talking in Arabic to another player that Greenspan asked if they were having an ‘Al-Qaeda meeting.’”
Greenspan categorically denied all of Kazemi’s allegations.
SI.com further reported Greenspan directed airport security to specifically search the carry-on bags of three players with Middle Eastern heritage. “All you need is a backpack and you are ready to bomb the school,” Greenspan also allegedly told an assistant with similar heritage.
For his part, Kazemi refused to discuss the issue during the NCAA Tournament.
Rice released a statement last year, when allegations of racist behavior first surfaced, that also denied the report.
“As a matter of policy,” the statement read, “Rice University avoids commenting on personnel matters or matters before the NCAA. However, allegations involving two former men’s basketball players require a brief response.
“In September 2012, two student-athletes received permission from Rice to transfer to the University of Southern California and the University of Oregon. Both schools have sought a waiver of the NCAA’s one-year residency rule so that the students can compete in the upcoming basketball season. Unfortunately, USC and Oregon have included in those waiver applications meritless allegations of discrimination, including some previously asserted by a former assistant basketball coach whose contract was not renewed last spring.
“Rice head basketball Coach Ben Braun and Athletics Director Rick Greenspan strongly deny those allegations. Rice University has a strong institutional commitment to tolerance and diversity, and both Braun and Greenspan share those values and provide services and programs that accommodate the needs of a diverse student-athlete population.”
In his final collegiate game against Louisville, Kazemi recorded a double-double, putting in 11 points with 12 rebounds. Rice finished the year 5-26, with a 1-15 record in Conference USA.