Makusha turns professional

United States, Zimbabwe’s Ngonidzashe Makusha has decided to turn professional.
Makusha recently sent tongues wagging in the United States when he recorded an astounding 9.89 seconds when winning the 100 metre event at the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Outdoor Championships at Des Moines in Iowa.
This saw the 24-year-old Zimbabwean, who is currently on a four-year athletics scholarship at Florida State University, breaking the national collegiate record in the 100m.
It (the winning time of 9.89 seconds) was also the fastest time in NCAA history and the second dominant performance of the meet for Makusha, who won the long jump in 8.40m – the best mark at the NCAA meet in 18 years.
Makusha also added a third national title as a member of the 4×100-metre relay team.
In the end it was really no choice at all.
As soon as Makusha joined the sub 9.9-second club in winning the NCAA 100-metre championship, the decision was all but made.
He was going to go pro. The money was just going to be too much to ignore.
In fact, less than a week after becoming just the fourth person in NCAA history to win the national title in both the 100-metre dash and the long jump, Florida State junior Makusha announced he will skip his senior season and turn professional.
Makusha made it official on Wednesday afternoon at a news conference at Florida State’s Moore Athletic Centre, according to reports received from the United States yesterday.
“I’ve put myself on the level where I need to start competing with the professional guys and the big guys,” said Makusha, who blazed to a record 9.89 seconds finish in the finals last Friday night.
He leaves as one of the all-time greats in college track and field history.
The Zimbabwean won four individual titles in the long jump, including this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, where he became only the third athlete in the past 80 years to win the long jump and the 100-metre dash in the same NCAA meet.
The other two were American track legends Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis.
He also won a team championship in 2008 as a freshman.
“So, yeah, there wasn’t much left for Makusha to accomplish in the garnet and gold.
And considering the living conditions of his family back in his home country, he simply couldn’t turn down the prospect of a six-figure contract.
“It’s in his best interest,” said FSU sprints coach Ken Harnden, who is also a native of Zimbabwe. “There is probably very little he could do next year in college to put him in a better spot from a financial standpoint. And what almost no one understands over here is how his family lives over there (in Zimbabwe).
” . . . The standard of living for 90 percent of the population is below poverty level in America. So you’re talking about a family of four that probably lives on US$350 a month. So if you’re talking about making six figures, that’s a big deal for them. What he can do for his family right now exceeds everything he can do in college.”
It’s more than just his family, though.
When Makusha startled the world with his record-breaking run at the NCAA meet, he instantly became a national story back home in Zimbabwe.
No Zimbabwe sprinter had ever broken 10 seconds in the 100-metre dash before Makusha.
“People are overwhelmed,” he said. “No one has ever done this. Kids in Zimbabwe used to go to their TV to watch people like Tyson Gay, people like Water Dix, people like Usain Bolt. But now they have someone in their yard who can do that for them and they can celebrate it.
“It’s very big for them.”
According to Harnden, his pupil could wind up being one of the most important athletes in the country’s history.
“Kirsty Coventry won three medals in the last Olympics in swimming and she’s a big deal,” Harnden said. “There are billboards of her and all that stuff. But she is also white. She’s not the majority of the population. She doesn’t represent the majority of the population. There are 30 000 white people out of 12 million.
“So he’s the guy. He’s the hero of that country. . . . And he was even asking me what we can do at home. When he signs his sponsorship he wanted to know if he would be able to send shoes back home and would he be able to take care of athletes back home. That’s just the type of kid he is.”
He has yet to choose an agent or sign a professional contract, but that will happen in the coming weeks.
Makusha said he will continue to train in Tallahassee with Harnden and jumps coach Dennis Nobles.
He expects to compete in some meets overseas while preparing for the 2011 World Championships in South Korea in late August.
But by and large he plans on remaining in the Florida panhandle – at his home away from home.
“It’s been a very long journey here and I’ve loved it here,” said Makusha, who plans on taking two courses in the fall to graduate. “I still love it. I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I will still be a Seminole. I’ve always loved working with my coaches and I will always remember that and always cherish it.”
When asked if the accomplishments from the NCAA championships had set in with him yet, Makusha said they had but he is already looking to what he can do as a professional.
“I’m the kid of person that I’m never satisfied and I never dwell on things for a long time,” he said.
“I don’t really know why I’m like that, but I think it’s a very good thing for me.
As soon as I do something I always look to the next level.
“Right now I kind of feel like I didn’t do anything at the NCAA championships, because I’m starting to think about the next level.
What I am to do, what I am to fix to be a better person, to be a better athlete. At the same time I’m not forgetting about it.”
Makusha will continue train to become a member of Zimbabwe’s Olympic Games team, but he will do so in Tallahassee in the United States.