Stanford commit Ryan Agarwal playing to be one of the first Indian Americans in the NBA
COPPELL, Texas (BVM) — Those who take a look at Ryan Agarwal, an incoming senior at Coppell High School, may immediately notice that he鈥檚 an Indian American. A future Stanford University student, some may make judgments off his Asian American heritage. They may assume that he was accepted just because of his high test scores and that one day he鈥檒l work in the STEM field. But in actuality, Agarwal will work towards his dream of being in the NBA while at Stanford as he鈥檚 committed to playing for the men鈥檚 basketball team starting in the fall of 2022.聽
The 6-foot-6 small forward is setting an example for South Asians all over the world on what it means to be someone who looks different in sports. He鈥檚 exemplifying that by excelling as a prospect who is ranked as the No. 84 recruit in the nation and ranked at No. 20 at his position for the Class of 2022.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of Indians in the game, but I鈥檓 trying to change that,鈥� Agarwal said. 鈥淚 think I鈥檓 proving that Indians shouldn鈥檛 be deterred from doing these sports and I鈥檓 going to keep proving it. For me, I know I’m different, but I want to show that any person of any race can play college ball. To some people, being Indian in sports is seen as a disadvantage, but I鈥檓 using it to my advantage.鈥�
Agarwal isn鈥檛 wrong in noting that there aren鈥檛 a lot of Indian basketball players — especially at the highest level. In 2015, Sim Bhullar became the first player of Indian descent to play in an NBA game when he had a short stint with the Sacramento Kings. Satnam Singh became the first Indian player to be selected in the NBA Draft when he was chosen as the No. 52 overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in 2015.聽
Since there are only a handful of notable names, Agarwal would be grouped as one of the first Indian ballplayers in the NBA.聽
Agarwal鈥檚 motto is, 鈥渄ifferent: that鈥檚 the goal,鈥� which is exactly what he鈥檚 been seen as since he joined AAU basketball in the third grade with the Texas Express before joining his current team, 3D Hoops Academy, in the seventh grade.聽
Since then, Agarwal said he鈥檚 been grateful to his family for being more supportive than most Indian parents.
鈥淲hen I was a kid, my parents were actually pretty big on me trying all sports: football, baseball and soccer,鈥� Agarwal said. 鈥淭hat was pretty dope, especially for having parents from India. A lot of Indian parents don鈥檛 really mess with sports like they do academics so having my parents do that was pretty cool. There was never a doubt in my mind that they wouldn’t let me play. There is no right or wrong way of going to college. They weren鈥檛 mad at all, especially after seeing that I still got into Stanford.鈥澛�
Although it wasn鈥檛 hard to persuade his family, it was hard for him to convince some of his peers. Agarwal said it often crossed his mind that he wouldn鈥檛 succeed based on pre-judgments people made about his abilities.
鈥淚鈥檝e been told that college recruits wouldn鈥檛 look at me because, 鈥榳hen鈥檚 the last time you鈥檝e seen an Indian succeed in the NCAA?鈥欌�� Agarwal said. 鈥淲hen I was younger it was worse because people would yell stereotypical stuff at me during games. But at the end of the day, people will show you if they want you and I realized people judging me for my race is just something you can鈥檛 control. I just want to prove to them they were wrong.鈥�
These days, Agarwal said that he has experienced nothing but love in his community.聽
鈥淎s of right now, it鈥檚 better for me because I鈥檝e made a name for myself,鈥� Agarwal said. 鈥淚 have a lot of love around this community and I haven’t gotten a lot of recent hate but I鈥檝e also been able to prove I can play.鈥�
Agarwal is hoping the Stanford community will also be accepting of him. He gave his verbal commitment to the team after feeling included especially by the head coach.聽
鈥淚 never thought I would get into Stanford since it was always my dream school,鈥� Agarwal said. 鈥淪tanford was one of the first schools to reach out to me and I got to talk to them for about a year before they even offered me. That whole time the head coach [Jerod] Haase was treating me like family even without offering me a scholarship yet. A bunch of us got to go to his house for dinner and he was the only coach to ever come to one of my practices.鈥澛�
But there is still one more high school season to play before Agarwal joins the Cardinals.聽
鈥淔or the past 18 years our team hasn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs which is our biggest curse,鈥� Agarwal said. 鈥淢y biggest goal is to win state and that would be insane for the whole team.鈥澛�
This past season, Coppell High School made it to the second round in the playoffs, but lost by three points. The team still won 17 out of 21 games and Agarwal was a major contributor scoring 18 points per game.聽
Agarwal specializes as a shooter and said he is excited about playing for Stanford because 鈥渢he team fits my style because they utilize shooters exactly how I want to play in college.鈥�
In the meantime, Agarwal, at just 17 years old, wants to continue to encourage more people that look like him to join the game.聽
鈥淏asketball is my favorite thing to do in the world and I want to make it my profession,鈥� Agarwal said. 鈥淚 never expected that I would play college ball after high school, being Indian, skinny and long, but who cares? Not everyone鈥檚 opinions matter and at the end of the day you have to do what you love.鈥澛�
