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Husky Talk is back with a former teammate I competed against in practice every day for 3 years, Coach Nicolas "Hakeem" Kashama. For starters, I always thought his name was Hakeem and 23 years later, he kindly told me it was his nickname. Better late than never I guess? Kashama loved basketball and Hakeem stuck because he played like NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.

College Football is different because there are 110 guys on the roster, and you don't always have an opportunity to get to know even close to everyone on the team. Talk about a special story, Nicolas Kashama's path to UConn was sincerely fascinating.

A description from me will fall short, listen to this episode. Born in the Congo, Hakeem's father wanted more for his family and sensed turmoil within the country. He left for Canada, worked for a year saving money, and moved the family to Toronto.

Kashama had friends but enjoyed playing with his brothers the most. What's amazing is that he never played American Football until being a sophomore in high school, and he struggled as a Defensive End. At the time, they moved to Montreal and Nicolas spoke primarily French.

He began taking classes to learn English in school. Hakeem watched tapes on all the best pass rushers of the era, Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Lawrence Taylor and would practice moves with his brothers in the back yard. UConn saw him at a Canadian summer showcase camp and offered a scholarship, he committed after his visit.

Coming to Connecticut in January, Kashama made an impact immediately during spring practice. Athletic, extremely talented, Hakeem is one of the rare college football players to start all 4 years. Earning accolades of All Conference and All ECAC as a DE. Injuries kept him from having a long professional career, but he was a force on a tough defensive line at UConn.

Nicolas was married shortly after college and coming up on 20 years of marriage. He teaches and coaches high school football in Georgia, one of the top gridiron states in the country.

Kashama has 4 kids, 2 who play for him now and the older one is being recruited by division 1 schools as a Strong Safety. Loved catching up with Nicolas, thrilled to see him having the big family he wanted and happy that he is a leader, mentor, someone his players look up to. Enjoy!