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Volume 126 Issue 91
kansan.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
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FEATURE
'BMX Guy'takes hobby from Wuhan to Wescoe
Junior Zunwu Zhou does a trick on his BMX on Wescoe Beach, Zhou first became a fan of the sport at age 14.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
DALTON KINGERY
news@kansan.com
For most people, riding a bike is something to do to enjoy the weather in May or to get a little exercise. But Zunwu Zhou isn't most people.
There's a good chance that you've seen Zhou, a junior from Wuhan, China, on Wescoe Beach whirling and piroueting his bicycle motocross (BMX) bike across the empty swaths of concrete with an unconscious ease that can only come from years of practice.
Zhou has taken a subculture that fascinates him and developed it into a fully-fledged lifelong passion. He can be seen almost daily pursuing his passion for BMX.
"It's impressive. Not only is he pulling off ridiculous tricks, he is doing it in front of everybody on campus. That's a high risk of injury and a high risk of embarrassment." said Luke Huttner, a freshman from Minnetonka, Minn. who sees Zhou on campus frequently. "He makes campus an interesting place to be."
Zhou's relationship with BMX began as fandom when he was 14 years old. He began watching clips of X-Games BMX riders in America like Matt Wilhelm and Terry Adams performing seemingly gravity-defying tricks like the "Time Machine," a trick that involves the rider flipping the bike on its side and on one wheel and spinning it at high speeds in a tight circle.
Almost immediately, Zhou was hooked on the sport.
"I just thought it was so cool," Zhou said. "At that time, nobody in my city was doing BMX, and I thought it would be so cool to do be doing something that nobody else was doing."
Zhou's transition from BMX fan to practitioner happened
swiftly when he downloaded online how-to videos and convinced his parents to buy him his first bike. Looking back, Zhou chuckles and jokes about his first bike in a manner similar to how many suburban American teenagers joke about their first cars.
"It was a really crappy bike," Zhou said. "It was old-school, and really heavy. It weighed at least three times what my current bike does."
After about a week of practicing, Zhou was ecstatic about being able to perform a handful of basic tricks. At that point, Zhou says he was officially "addicted." He began to ride his bike in the concrete jungle of Wuhan for three to four hours every day, rain or shine, scouring the city for the best stretches of empty concrete to hone his skills on.
Although his parents were mostly supportive of Zhou's BMX career, they made it clear to him that school came first, something that Zhou is thankful for. He readily admits that studying in America is an expensive venture, and that his family wouldn't be able to completely finance the costs of studying abroad if it weren't for the scholarships he earned from the University.
In addition to the importance of school, Zhou's parents impressed on him the possibilities that awaited him in America.
"Ever since I was a little kid, my dad always told me that the United States is the greatest country in the world, and that if I wanted to have freedom and be able to live the life I want, the United States is the place to be," Zhou said. "I want to live here for the rest of my life."
When he first arrived to campus as a freshman, the first thing he did after getting settled was take a walk around campus to find the best riding
spot. By the end of the day, Zhou was making himself at home on Wescoe Beach.
Now, three years later, Zhou can still be found on Wescoe Beach and around campus perfecting his skills for as many as five hours a day. People frequently approach him to compliment him on his tricks and ask for pictures and videos; however, Zhou says
that he is only recognized as the "BMX guy" when he has his bike with him. When he is in class or walking around without his bike, he is just another anonymous student, not a campus celebrity.
"I've never seen him, but my friends have talked about seeing him around campus," said Jason Kor, a sophomore from Olathe who has yet
to catch a glimpse of Zhou.
"Every time I walk down
Jayhawk Boulevard, I look
around to see if he's out there
but I haven't managed to catch him yet."
Students like Jason will have an abundance of chances to catch Zhou in action over the next few months, as the campus legend has no intentions of hanging up his
wheels anytime soon.
"Some people go running every single day. I'm just like everyone else that has a passion, mine just happens to be BMX," Zhou said, insisting that BMX will never stop being a part of who he is. "I'm going to be riding my bike until I can't ride anymore."
Edited by Emily Hines
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Embiid out until second round of NCAA tournament
Joel Embiid sits out against Texas Tech on Wednesday, March 5. Embiid has been sidelined and met with a back specialist in Los Angeles.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
BRIAN HILLIX
sports@kansan.com
In his weekly teleconference Monday morning, Kansas coach Bill Self was optimistic that the freshman center would be available for the NCAA Tournament and potentially even the Big 12 Tournament this week. Self said Embiid, who is currently in the middle of the rehabilitation process, hasn't responded as quickly to the treatment as originally planned. The Cameroon native is expected to make a full recovery within a few weeks, meaning he could return in the Sweet Sixteen, should the team make it that far.
After visiting a spinal specialist in Los Angeles on Monday, Joel Embid has been ruled out for the Big 12 Tournament and likely the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, a Kansas Athletics press release confirms.
The injury occurred on Feb. 8 in a win against West Virginia. Embibd only played 18 minutes in the team's next game — an overtime loss to Kansas State — and would sit out the next game against TCU. He played in the team's next three games before sitting out the final two. In the last game he played, March 1 against Oklahoma State, he was noticeably hampered by the injury.
"Everyone is 100 percent confident that Joel will heal and be back to normal soon, but the most important thing is that he gets well." Self said in the press release. "We're certainly not going to put him out there unless the doctors, his family and Joel are ready for him to go. I know how bad he wants it, and that he will work his butt off to put him in a position where if our team is successful and fortunate enough to advance, he could return in later rounds."
important Embiid is, turn to Saturday's game against West Virginia, where Self said his team was exposed without him. Kansas (23-8, 14-4 Big 12) was outrebounded 37-31 by one of the smallest teams in the Big 12. WVU freshman forward Devin Williams scored a career-high 22 points and went 8-for-10 from the field. When Embiid played against the Mountaineers four weeks ago at Allen Fieldhouse, Williams scored four points, made one field goal and fouled out of the game.
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For an indication of how
"When he's healthy and playing well, he has the potential to impact the game on both ends as much as anybody in the country," Self said in the teleconference.
Embidid, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, is the team's leading rebounder and ranks second in the conference in blocks. His 72 blocks this season set a Kansas freshman
"Our team feels bad for Joel," Self said. "But this in no way changes our original postseason goals and our team will rally around this."
In the three games Embiid has missed, Kansas has gone 2-1, although the two wins came against the two worst teams in the Big 12. Both wins were blowouts and featured dominating performances from sophomore forward Perry Ellis (career-high 32 points against TCU) and senior forward Tarik Black (19 points, 9-9 from the field against Texas Tech).
record.
"He's about as good a rim protector as there is defensively," Self said.
Don't Forget
In 28 games this season, Embiid has averaged 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds.
No. 10 Kansas plays the winner of the Oklahoma State-Texas Tech game, on Thursday. March 13, at 2 p.m.
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kausan
Edited by Nick Chadbourne
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