CAIRO, Ga. (WALB) - Cairo High School senior Clifford “CJ” Hammonds is this week’s Valdosta State Scholar Athlete of the Week. The basketball player spent 17 years living in Europe while his father played professional basketball before moving to Cairo last summer for his senior year.

A family homecoming

Hammonds said the move came as a surprise, but one he welcomed.

“I was excited, actually. I mean, I didn’t think [Hammonds’ father’s] career was going to be over already, but when he told me we were going to Cairo, I got excited because this is the school he went to, my mom went to, a lot of my family went to, so I was excited to carry on the legacy,” Hammonds said.

Adjusting in the classroom and on the court

The transition required academic adjustment as well. Hammonds spent four years learning in Dutch and is now back to English, maintaining a 3.3 GPA while participating in four sports.

On the court, Hammonds said the style of play differs from what he experienced overseas.

“Basketball over there is a little bit different because over there it’s all about the fundamentals and stuff. Here, it’s a little more flashy, but since I had already learned the fundamentals and my game was already a little flashy, I was able to pick up on it quickly,” Hammonds said.

Life between two worlds

Hammonds said the cultural shift has been noticeable beyond basketball.

“What I mostly miss about Europe... The food was different. The culture was also different. You had a mixture of everybody, different religions, people live differently. Over here, everyone is mostly the same, but I like it,” Hammonds said.

Hammonds also speaks five languages: English, Dutch, German, Greek and French. He said one benefit of growing up multilingual is the ability to communicate privately with his siblings.

“Me, my brothers, my sister, when we’re at home and we don’t want our parents to know what we’re talking about, we’ll switch up the language and they’ll be clueless as to what we’re talking about,” Hammonds said.

Hammonds continued saying his favorite part of this year has been being able to play on the same team as his freshman brother, KJ.

Congratulations to CJ Hammonds for being recognized as this week’s Valdosta State Scholar Athlete!

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