Leadership is a quality that separates a strong, formidable opponent from an average one. With the recent change at the head coach position for the Owls boys’s varsity basketball team, internal leadership is as important as ever. At the forefront of this Owls team is senior Tim Mingo. Standing at 6’2”, Mingo, literally and figuratively, has been a large piece of the varsity squad since his sophomore year. Now, entering his senior campaign, Mingo has been given the role of captain, and he has had no trouble filling that role this year.
Mingo’s leadership qualities have earned him the respect of his teammates and coaches. According to Mingo’s long-time teammate and friend Amah Agwu, Mingo’s growth has been exponential in the past five years: “I’ve been playing basketball with Tim since seventh grade, and he’s grown so much, both as a player and as a person.” Agwu praised Mingo’s embrace of the role of a teammate, a role model, and a friend to all his peers. According to Awgu, Mingo is always “engaged in team activities, whether it’s getting the guys together to get food, or to gather the guys to have a game night.” Agwu added, “He helps build the brotherly bond that we have on our team.”
Varsity coach Brian Donaldson also reveres Mingo’s leadership of the youthful Owls program: “Especially being a particularly younger team, having four sophomores on varsity, Tim has picked them up when they’ve struggled, and he’s treated guys at 16 the same way he’d treat someone who was all-county or all-conference.” Donaldson says Mingo is a catalyst for the development that he is seeing from his team every day: “As a team, there’s going to be a lot of growth. We’re going to be, come February, a team that’s so much stronger than the team that showed up in November…especially lea by Tim, [we’re] going to get better.”
Mingo is also known as one of the most fun players by his team by both his teammates and coaches. He is often regarded as a competitor but knows how to have fun playing the sport he loves. Agwu thought back fondly on the moment he and Mingo first met: “One of my favorite memories with Tim is when we first met through recess basketball. We played a good, competitive game, and we would eventually become great friends.” Donaldson says he loves watching Mingo lead the team in practice, in both basketball and music-related activities. “A highlight of practice is when ‘Rich Baby Daddy’ by Drake comes on. It’s one of Tim’s songs, and the whole team just starts going berserk. It’s great. It’s like one of our team anthems,” said Donaldson,
This leadership and ability to have fun, however, does not come at the expense of in-game performance. Donaldson venerated Mingo’s ability to shake off defenders. “He’s one of the more athletic kids in our conference. He’s got speed, he’s got strength, he’s got size, which makes it tough for him to be guarded.” Donaldson also commended Mingo’s defensive presence, calling him “an Energizer bunny.” Donaldson added, “He buys in, he’s looking to get steals, he’s going to make the opposing offense struggle.”
When told he would be this edition’s Athlete Spotlight, Mingo was nothing but grateful. Mingo spoke about how happy he is to be seen as a leader by his team. He attributes his success to the people around him. “My biggest supporters by far are my parents, family, my girlfriend, and my friends,” he said. He also says his desire to do more outside of basketball comes from his favorite player, LeBron James: “My biggest inspiration by far would have to be LeBron. Not just because of his dominance for the past decade on the court, but for what he does off the court.”
Mingo also provided some advice for younger athletes who may be going rough patches with sports that they love, no matter what they may be: “Don’t worry about what other people think about you. Everyone is going to have their own thoughts about you; be yourself, that’s the best version of yourself.” When asked about what his plans were moving forward, Mingo focused on the present and had one goal in mind: a championship. “As of right now, my plans are to get this great group of boys and this program to Hofstra this year,” said Mingo.
